Transformed fungus having enhanced ergothioneine productivity and method for producing ergothioneine

ABSTRACT

The purpose of the present invention is to provide an organism having an ergothioneine productivity that is capable of easily producing ergothioneine within a short period of time at a high yield, as compared with a conventional technology, and, therefore, enables ergothioneine production on an industrial scale. This purpose can be achieved by a transformed fungus into which a gene encoding enzyme (1) or genes encoding enzymes (1) and (2) have been inserted and in which the inserted gene(s) are overexpressed. (1) an enzyme catalyzing a reaction of synthesizing hercynyl cysteine sulfoxide from histidine and cysteine in the presence of S-adenosyl methionine, iron (II) and oxygen. (2) An enzyme catalyzing a reaction of synthesizing ergothioneine from hercynyl cysteine sulfoxide using pyridoxal 5′-phosphate as a coenzyme.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a Continuation of copending application Ser. No. 15/533,215, filed on Jun. 5, 2017, which is the National Phase under 35 U.S.C. § 371 of International Application No. PCT/JP2015/086301, filed on Dec. 25, 2015, which claims the benefit under 35 U.S.C. § 119(a) to Patent Application No. 2015-17328, filed in Japan on Jan. 30, 2015, and Patent Application No. 2015-157444, filed in Japan on Aug. 7, 2015, all of which are hereby expressly incorporated by reference into the present application.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to a fungus capable of producing ergothioneine, as well as to a production method of ergothioneine utilizing such fungus.

BACKGROUND ART

Ergothioneine is a sulfur-containing amino acid represented by the following formula (II):

It is a biological compound known to exist in the liver and other organs as well as in the blood of animals, including humans.

Ergothioneine is known to have antioxidative activity. For example, it is said to have an ability to scavenge hydroxyl radicals, an ability to suppress the iron- or copper-dependent generation of hydroxyl radicals from hydrogen peroxide, an ability to suppress copper-dependent oxidation of oxyhemoglobin, and an ability to suppress oxidation of arachidonic acid by myoglobin and hydrogen peroxide. Ergothioneine is also said to show inhibition of elastase activity, inhibition of tyrosinase activity, anti-inflammatory activity, enhancement of cell energy, anti-stress activity, anti-aging activity, anti-wrinkle activity, and suppression of lipid peroxide generation.

Due to its characteristics as a functional biological compound having various physiological activities and as a heat-resistant, water-soluble material, ergothioneine is expected to find applications in functional food products, supplements, cosmetic products, pharmaceutical products, quasi-pharmaceutical products, animal feed, and the like.

Known production methods of ergothioneine include, in addition to extraction from the organs or blood of animals, extraction from mycelium of mushrooms capable of producing ergothioneine (See, Patent Documents 1 and 2 below, the entire disclosure of each of which is incorporated herein by reference). Non-Patent Documents 1 and 2 below (the entire disclosure of each of which is incorporated herein by reference) state that most bacteria lack the ability to produce ergothioneine. These documents also state that certain fungi such at Aspergillus niger and Neurospora crassa are capable of producing ergothioneine whereas Saccharomyces cerevisiae has little ability to produce ergothioneine.

Ergothioneine biosynthesis system have been reported in some fungi capable of producing ergothioneine. For example, Non-Patent Documents 3 and 4 below (the entire disclosure of each of which is incorporated herein by reference) describe the biosynthesis system of ergothioneine in Neurospora crassa, while Non-Patent Document 5 below (the entire disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference) describes the biosynthesis system of ergothioneine in Schizosaccharomyces pombe, a “fission yeast”.

PRIOR ART DOCUMENTS Patent Documents

-   Patent Document 1: Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 4865083 -   Patent Document 2: Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 5231025

Non-Patent Documents

-   Non-Patent Document 1: Donald B. Melville et al, J. Biol. Chem.     1956, 223:9-17 -   Non-Patent Document 2: Dorothy S. Genghof, J. Bacteriology, August     1970, p. 475-478 -   Non-Patent Document 3: Fungal Genet Biol 49 (2012) 160-172 -   Non-Patent Document 4: Org Lett. 2014 Oct. 17; 16 (20):5382-5385 -   Non-Patent Document 5: PLoS One 2014 May 14; 9(5):e97774

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION Problems to be Solved by the Invention

The technique described in Patent Documents 1 and 2, which involves culturing mycelium of certain mushrooms and subsequently extracting ergothioneine, is unsuitable for producing ergothioneine on an industrial scale since culturing the mycelium of mushrooms requires significant skills and takes long time.

The description of Non-Patent Documents 1 to 5 suggests that ergothioneine can be biosynthesized by some fungi other than mushrooms. Of these, Non-Patent Document 3 describes a transformed Neurospora crassa, which has been transformed by the deletion of a gene (NCU04343) encoding an enzyme (NcEgt-1) that catalyzes the reaction in which —NH₂ group of histidine is methylated to form hercynine, which in turn is used with cysteine to form hercynyl cysteine sulfoxide represented by the following formula (I):

Non-Patent Documents 3 and 4 describe enzymes NCU04636 and NCU11365 that can possibly catalyze the reaction in which ergothioneine is formed from hercynyl cysteine sulfoxide. Non-Patent Document 4 further states that ergothioneine was formed from hercynyl cysteine sulfoxide by an in vitro reaction using the NCU11365 gene extracted from a transformed E. coli overexpressing NCU11365.

However, Non-Patent Documents 3 and 4 mention nothing about the in vivo production of ergothioneine using transformants overexpressing the NCU04343, NCU04636 or NCU11365 gene.

Non-Patent Document 5 states that ergothioneine was synthesized in vivo by using a transformed Schizosaccharomyces pombe overexpressing the SPBC1604.01 gene that encodes an enzyme corresponding to the above-described NcEgt-1. However, ergothioneine was obtained only in extremely small amounts by using the transformed Schizosaccharomyces pombe described in Non-Patent Document 5. Also, nothing is mentioned in Non-Patent Document 5 about transformants that can overexpress a gene corresponding to the aforementioned NCU11365 gene.

Accordingly, it is an objective of the present invention to provide an organism having an ability to produce ergothioneine that can produce ergothioneine at a higher yield, yet in a simpler manner and in a shorter period of time, as compared to the mycelium of mushrooms as described in Patent Documents 1 and 2 and can thus enable the industrial-scale production of ergothioneine. It is also an objective of the present invention to provide a method for producing a high-purity-ergothioneine-containing composition by using the organism.

Means of Solving the Problems

In the course of extensive studies to find solutions to the above-described problems, the present inventors have succeeded in identifying, from a fungus Aspergillus sojae, the gene AsEgtA encoding an enzyme that catalyzes a reaction to produce hercynyl cysteine sulfoxide from histidine and cysteine and the genes AsEgtB and AsEgtC each encoding an enzyme that catalyzes a reaction to produce ergothioneine from hercynyl cysteine sulfoxide.

Subsequently, the present inventors prepared DNA constructs designed to overexpress each of the isolated genes and introduced the constructs into Aspergillus sojae to transform it, thereby succeeded in creating an Aspergillus sojae transformant that can overexpress AsEgtA, AsEgtB or AsEgtC; an Aspergillus sojae transformant that can overexpress AsEgtA and AsEgtB; and an Aspergillus sojae transformant that can overexpress AsEgtA and AsEgtC.

The present inventors then subjected these Aspergillus sojae transformants to various tests and surprisingly found that the transformant overexpressing AsEgtA tend to have an enhanced ability to produce ergothioneine as compared to the wild-type strain, whereas the transformant overexpressing AsEgtB or AsEgtC does not show such tendency.

Even surprisingly, the present inventors have found that, contrary to the above-described finding, the transformant overexpressing AsEgtA and AsEgtB and the transformant overexpressing AsEgtA and AsEgtC tend to have an increased ability to produce ergothioneine as compared to the transformant overexpressing AsEgtA alone. This suggests that the transformants overexpressing the two genes involved in the biosynthesis of ergothioneine has an enhanced ability to produce ergothioneine that has been increased multiplicatively, rather than additively.

It was also found that the transformants overexpressing one or two of the above-described genes involved in the biosynthesis of ergothioneine could be cultured according to the standard method; they were not substantially different from the wild-type strain in terms of their growth rate and other characteristics. It is these successful examples and findings that ultimately led to the completion of the present invention.

According to the present invention, there is provided a transformed filamentous fungus that has a gene encoding an enzyme described in (1) below or genes encoding enzymes described in (1) and (2) below inserted therein and can overexpress the inserted gene or genes:

-   (1) an enzyme that catalyzes the reaction in which hercynyl cysteine     sulfoxide is produced from histidine and cysteine in the presence of     S-adenosylmethionine, iron (II), and oxygen; and -   (2) an enzyme that catalyzes the reaction in which ergothioneine is     produced from hercynyl cysteine sulfoxide using pyridoxal     5′-phosphate as a coenzyme.

In the transformed filamentous fungus of the present invention, the filamentous fungus is preferably a microorganism of the genus Aspergillus.

In the transformed filamentous fungus of the present invention, the filamentous fungus is preferably a fungus of the genus Aspergillus selected from the group consisting of Aspergillus sojae, Aspergillus oryzae, Aspergillus niger, Aspergillus tamarii, Aspergillus awamori, Aspergillus usamii, Aspergillus kawachii, and Aspergillus saitoi.

Preferably, the transformed filamentous fungus of the present invention is a transformed filamentous fungus in which the expression of the gene encoding the enzyme (1) or the genes encoding the enzymes (1) and (2) is enhanced such that the amount of ergothioneine is increased compared to a host filamentous fungus.

Preferably, the transformed filamentous fungus of the present invention is a transformed filamentous fungus in which the expression of the genes encoding the enzymes (1) and (2) is enhanced such that the amount of ergothioneine is increased compared to transformed filamentous fungi in which the expression of the gene encoding the enzyme (1) is enhanced.

Preferably, the transformed filamentous fungus of the present invention is a transformed filamentous fungus in which the expression of the gene encoding the enzyme (1) or the genes encoding the enzymes (1) and (2) is enhanced such that when the transformed filamentous fungi is cultured at 30° C. for 3 days in a culture medium suitable for the growth of the host filamentous fungus, the amount of ergothioneine is 10.0 mg or more per 1 g of dry cell mass.

In the transformed filamentous fungus of the present invention, the gene encoding the enzyme (1) is a gene selected from the group consisting of a gene having a base sequence of SEQ ID NO: 1, a gene having a base sequence of SEQ ID NO: 23, and a gene having a base sequence of SEQ ID NO: 33 in the sequence listing, or the enzyme (1) is an enzyme selected from the group consisting of an enzyme having an amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 4, an enzyme having an amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 26, and an enzyme having an amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 34 in the sequence listing.

In the transformed filamentous fungus of the present invention, the gene encoding the enzyme (1) is a gene selected from the group consisting of a gene having a base sequence of SEQ ID NO: 1, a gene having a base sequence of SEQ ID NO: 23, and a gene having a base sequence of SEQ ID NO: 33 in the sequence listing, or the enzyme (1) is an enzyme selected from the group consisting of an enzyme having an amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 4, an enzyme having an amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 26, and an enzyme having an amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 34 in the sequence listing.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for producing a high-purity-ergothioneine-containing composition, comprising the step of culturing a transformed filamentous fungus in a culture medium suitable for the growth of the host filamentous fungus to obtain a culture, from which an ergothioneine-containing composition having purity of 5% or higher is obtained.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a recombinant vector comprising at least one gene selected from the group consisting of a gene encoding the enzyme (1) and a gene encoding the enzyme (2), and a heterologous gene.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a composition comprising a recombinant vector containing a gene encoding the enzyme (1) and a heterologous gene, and a recombinant vector containing a gene encoding the enzyme (2) and a heterologous gene.

In the recombinant vector and the composition of the present invention, the gene encoding the enzyme (1) and the gene encoding the enzyme (2) are each a gene either originating from a host organism to insert the recombinant vector therein or optimized to be expressed in the host organism.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a transformed Escherichia coli having a gene encoding the enzyme (1) or genes encoding the enzymes (1) and (2) inserted therein and overexpressing the inserted gene or genes.

Advantageous Effects of Invention

According to the transformed filamentous fungus or the production method of the present invention, ergothioneine can be produced at high amounts and at high purities using conditions used to culture common filamentous fungi. As a result, the present invention enables the production of ergothioneine in a simpler manner and in a shorter period of time as compared to the conventional mushrooms having an ability to produce ergothioneine or the conventional production method of ergothioneine using such mushrooms. Thus, according to the present invention, industrial-scale production of ergothioneine can be achieved.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the results of determining the amounts of ergothioneine produced by the transformed Aspergillus sojae and the control strain as described in Examples. In the figure, EGT stands for ergothioneine.

FIG. 2 shows HPLC charts of ergothioneine extracts obtained from, the control strain and the AsEgtA transformant as described in Examples.

FIG. 3 is a photographic representation of SDS-PAGE performed with the total protein extracted from the transformants and the control strain as described in Examples. Lane 1 corresponds to the total protein derived from, the control strain, Lane 2 corresponds to the total protein derived from the AsEgtA transformant, Lane 3 corresponds to the total protein derived from the AsEgtB transformant, Lane 4 corresponds to the total protein derived from the AsEgtC transformant, Lane 5 corresponds to the total protein derived from the (AsEgtA+AsEgtB) transformant, and Lane 6 corresponds to the total protein derived from the (AsEgtA+AsEgtC) transformant.

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram showing the ergothioneine biosynthesis system of fungi. In the figure, SAM stands for S-adenosylmethionine and PLP stands for pyridoxal 5′-phosphate.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing the results of determining the amounts of ergothioneine produced by the transformed Aspergillus oryzae and the control strain as described in Examples. In the figure, EGT stands for ergothioneine.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing the results of determining the amounts of ergothioneine produced by the transformed E. coli and the control strain as described in Examples.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing the results of culturing the transformed E. coli and the results of determining the amounts of ergothioneine produced by the transformed E. coli as described in Examples. In the figure, “intracellular” indicates the results of quantification of ergothioneine in the ergothioneine extract and “extracellular” indicates the results of quantification of ergothioneine in the culture supernatant.

DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

The present invention will now be described in details.

(Overview of Transformed Filamentous Fungus of the Present Invention)

The transformed fungus of the present invention has a gene encoding an enzyme described in (1) below or genes encoding enzymes (1) and (2) described below inserted therein and can overexpress the inserted gene or genes:

-   (1) an enzyme that catalyzes the reaction in which hercynyl cysteine     sulfoxide is produced from histidine and cysteine in the presence of     S-adenosylmethionine, iron (II), and oxygen; and -   (2) an enzyme that catalyzes the reaction in which ergothioneine is     produced from hercynyl cysteine sulfoxide using pyridoxal     5′-phosphate as a coenzyme.

The transformed filamentous fungus of the present invention can ultimately produce ergothioneine from histidine and cysteine by overexpressing a gene that is inserted as a foreign gene and encodes the enzymes described in (1) and (2) above (hereinafter, referred to as enzyme (1) and enzyme (2), respectively). The transformed filamentous fungi of the present invention are generally divided into two categories: those that overexpress the gene encoding the enzyme (1) but not the gene encoding the enzyme (2) and those that overexpress both the gene encoding the enzyme (1) and the gene encoding the enzyme (2). It should be understood that the gene encoding the enzyme (1) to be overexpressed and the gene encoding the enzyme (2) to be overexpressed may individually include one or more genes.

FIG. 4 shows a schematic diagram of the supposed biosynthesis system of fungi. The enzyme (1) corresponds to egtA and the enzyme (2) corresponds to egtB or egtC in FIG. 4.

(Enzymological Properties of Enzymes (1) and (2))

As shown in FIG. 4, the enzyme (1) has SAM-dependent methyltransferase activity; that is, it can catalyzes the reaction in which histidine is converted to hercynine with a trimethylated NH₂ group in an S-adenosylmethionine (SAM)-dependent manner. The enzyme (1) also has sulfatase activity; that is, it can catalyze the reaction in which hercynyl cysteine sulfoxide as shown in the following formula (I) is produced from hercynine and cysteine in the presence of iron (II) and oxygen:

As a result of these activities, the enzyme (1) can produce hercynyl cysteine sulfoxide from histidine and cysteine in the presence of S-adenosylmethionine, iron (II) and oxygen.

The enzyme (2) has PLP-binding cysteine desulfurase activity; that is, it can catalyze the reaction in which ergothioneine is produced from hercynyl cysteine sulfoxide using pyridoxal 5′-phosphate (PLP) as a coenzyme.

Capable of expressing the genes encoding the enzyme (1) or the enzymes (1) and (2), the transformed filamentous fungus of the present invention can produce ergothioneine from histidine and cysteine under the conditions that the individual enzymes are activated.

(The Structural Properties of Enzymes (1) and (2))

The enzyme (1) may be any enzyme that has the above-described enzymological properties; that is, any enzyme that has the SAM-dependent methyltransferase activity and the sulfatase activity such that it can catalyze the reaction in which hercynyl cysteine sulfoxide is produced from histidine and cysteine in the presence of S-adenosylmethionine, iron (II) and oxygen, and is not particularly limited by its structural properties, such as amino acid sequence, entire or partial three-dimensional structure, and molecular weight; biochemical properties, such as optimum pH, optimum temperature, and denaturing conditions; type of the organism from which it originates; or other conditions. However, since the enzyme (1) has both the SAM-dependent methyltransferase activity and the sulfatase activity, it is preferred that the enzyme contains well-conserved domains of both SAM-dependent methyltransferases and sulfatases.

An example of the conserved domain of SAM-dependent methyltransferases is a SAM-dependent methyltransferase domain containing a DUF2260 domain. An example of the conserved domain of sulfatases is a formylglycine-generating enzyme (FGE)-sulfatase domain. The above-described domains may not necessarily be connected in tandem; for example, a nonconserved domain may be present between the two domains. The enzyme preferably contains a DinB_2 domain between the conserved domain of SAM-dependent methyltransferase and the conserved domain of sulfatase. If present, the DinB_2 domain preferably contains HX₃HXE, an iron-binding motif.

For example, one embodiment of the enzyme (1) has a structure that contains a conserved domain of SAM-dependent methyltransferase, a DinB_2 domain, and a conserved domain of sulfatase. Another embodiment of the enzyme (1) has a structure that contains a SAM-dependent methyltransferase domain containing a DUF2260 domain, a DinB_2 domain containing HX₃HXE, and an FGE-sulfatase domain.

One preferred embodiment of the enzyme (1) is one that has 30% or higher, preferably 40% or higher, more preferably 45% or higher sequence identity to NcEgt-1 (NCU04343) described in Non-Patent Document 3. As used herein, the term “sequence identity” refers to the identity between the two sequences aligned to each other and does not refer to the similarity between the two sequences.

Specific examples of the enzyme (1) include, but are not limited to, proteins assigned the following accession numbers (the numbers in the parentheses indicate sequence identities obtained by Blastp using a AsEgtA protein of SEQ ID NO: 4 as a query sequence): XP_001727309.1 (97%), XP_002375556.1 (97%), XP_001211614.1 (74%), GAA90479.1 (75%), XP_001261027.1 (72%), XP_001275843.1 (72%), EDP55069.1 (72%), XP_755900.1 (72%), EHA24811.1 (74%), XP_001397117.2 (73%), EYE96655.1 (72%), CAK42541.1 (71%), XP_680889.1 (69%), EPS32723.1 (66%), GAD91762.1 (63%), EKV06018.1 (63%), XP_002487159.1 (61%), XP_002145387.1 (61%), CDM31097.1 (62%), XP_002623045.1 (57%), EQL36096.1 (57%), EEQ91012.1 (57%), XP_002794316.1 (57%), XP_002540839.1 (57%), XP_001246505.1 (57%), XP_003066681.1 (56%), EFW18329.1 (56%), EEH06820.1 (56%), XP_003172803.1 (55%), EGE82230.1 (56%), EGD95426.1 (54%), EZF30391.1 (54%), EHY53149.1 (53%), XP_002844140.1 (54%), XP_003237555.1 (54%), EXJ78765.1 (52%), XP_001543980.1 (53%), EXJ84167.1 (53%), EXJ76804.1 (51%), ETI21425.1 (52%), EXJ55868.1 (52%), EKG13377.1 (51%), XP_003836988.1 (51%), EON60831.1 (50%), EGE08446.1 (52%), EMD86163.1 (51%), EUN21814.1 (51%), EMD69895.1 (50%), EME40669.1 (52%), EUC45427.1 (51%), EEH18365.1 (52%), XP_001939537.1 (51%), EUC28327.1 (50%), XP_003296645.1 (50%), EER38486.1 (54%), XP_007587632.1 (50%), EOA87110.1 (50%), EEH47303.1 (54%), EMC91772.1 (51%), EJT79063.1 (50%), XP_007289878.1 (51%), EMF09308.1 (50%), XP_007274188.1 (49%), XP_003849540.1 (51%), ENH83409.1 (50%), EQB47754.1 (48%), XP_006693510.1 (51%), ETN41916.1 (50%), XP_003711933.1 (49%), EWG46299.1 (50%), EGU87412.1 (49%), ESZ95365.1 (48%), EGC47631.1 (52%), EXM31381.1 (49%), EXL83373.1 (49%), XP_385823.1 (50%), EMT70054.1 (50%), EXK95313.1 (49%), CCT71860.1 (50%), EXM04867.1 (49%), EXA38531.1 (49%), EWZ34577.1 (49%), EWY87102.1 (49%), ENH70585.1 (49%), EYB29661.1 (50%), EXK37219.1 (49%), EWZ95323.1 (49%), EGY20613.1 (49%), EME78671.1 (50%), EKJ73623.1 (50%), EFQ30701.1 (48%), EPE09977.1 (48%), EXV06624.1 (49%), ERS99852.1 (49%), EGO59462.1 (49%), XP_003348780.1 (48%), EFY99927.1 (49%), XP_007594915.1 (47%), XP_003660752.1 (49%), EAA27088.3 (49%), ERF68279.1 (49%), EFX04429.1 (50%), ETR98676.1 (49%), EFY84340.1 (48%), XP_006968620.1 (48%), XP_003048884.1 (49%), EHK20832.1 (49%), EPE24413.1 (49%), EJP62962.1 (49%), ETS83740.1 (48%), EHK45989.1 (49%), ELQ64904.1 (47%), XP_006672555.1 (48%), ELQ40007.1 (46%), EXL83375.1 (50%), EXK95315.1 (50%), CCE33591.1 (48%), EXM04869.1 (51%), EXA38533.1 (50%), EWZ95325.1 (50%), EXK37221.1 (50%), EWZ34579.1 (50%), EWY87104.1 (50%), CCX31754.1 (47%), XP_956324.2 (46%), and XP_956324.2 (46%).

Of the above-listed proteins, the protein with accession number XP_001727309.1 (97%) is a protein having an amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 26. Also, the protein with accession number XP_001397117.2 (73%) is a protein having an amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 34. These results suggest that methyltransferases (or putative methyltransferases or hypothetical proteins) having an amino acid sequence with 40% or higher, preferably 50% or higher, more preferably 70% or higher sequence identity to the amino acid sequence of the AsEgtA protein may be used as the enzyme (1).

The enzyme (2) may also be any enzyme that has the above-described enzymological properties; that is, any enzyme that has the PLP-binding cysteine desulfurase activity such that it can catalyze the reaction in which ergothioneine is produced from hercynyl cysteine sulfoxide using pyridoxal 5′-phosphate (PLP) as a coenzyme, and is not particularly limited by its structural properties, biochemical properties, type of the organism from which it originates, or other conditions. However, since the enzyme (2) has the PLP-binding cysteine desulfurase activity, it is preferred that the enzyme contain conserved domains of PLP-binding cysteine desulfurases.

The enzyme (2) may include at least two types of structurally different enzymes: those containing a PLP-binding cysteine desulfurase domain with approximately 75% sequence identity to NCU04636 described in Non-Patent Document 3 and those containing a PLP-binding cysteine desulfurase domain with approximately 44% sequence identity to NCU11365 described in Non-Patent Document 4. The enzyme (2) may comprise one of the two types or both.

(Amino Acid Sequences of Enzymes (1) and (2))

The enzymes (1) and (2) may have any amino acid sequence as long as the resulting enzyme has the above-described enzymological properties, or preferably, the above-described enzymological properties and structural properties. For example, one embodiment of the enzyme (1) having the above-described enzymological and structural properties includes the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 4, and one embodiment of the enzyme (2) having the above-described enzymological and structural properties includes the amino acid sequences of SEQ ID NOs: 5 and 6. The enzymes having an amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NOs: 4 to 6 each originate from Aspergillus sojae and are named by the present inventors as AsEgtA, AsEgtB, and AsEgtC proteins, respectively. The base sequences of the genes encoding these enzymes are given in SEQ ID NOs: 1 to 3.

Likewise, one embodiment of the enzyme (1) having the above-described enzymological and structural properties includes the amino acid sequences of SEQ ID NOs: 26 and 34. The enzymes having an amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NOs: 26 and 34 originate from Aspergillus oryzae and Aspergillus niger, respectively, and are named by the present inventors as AoEgtA protein and AnEgtA protein, respectively. The base sequences of the genes encoding these enzymes are given in SEQ ID NOs: 23 and 33, respectively. One embodiment of the enzyme (2) having the above-described enzymological and structural properties includes the amino acid sequences of SEQ ID NOs: 27 and 28. The enzymes having an amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NOs: 27 and 28 each originate from Aspergillus oryzae and are named by the present inventors as AoEgtB protein and AoEgtC protein, respectively. The base sequences of the genes encoding these enzymes are given in SEQ ID NOs: 24 and 25, respectively.

AsEgtA, AsEgtB and AsEgtC are encoded by genes encoding these enzymes present on the chromosomal DNA of Aspergillus sojae. The AoEgtA, AoEgtB and AoEgtC proteins are encoded by genes encoding these enzymes present on the chromosomal DNA of Aspergillus oryzae. The AnEgtA protein is encoded by a gene encoding the enzyme present on the chromosomal DNA of Aspergillus niger. The genes present on the chromosomal DNA of the organisms of origin and the proteins and the enzymes encoded by such genes may be referred to as “wild-type genes,” “wild-type proteins” and “wild-type enzymes,” herein.

The amino acid sequence of the enzymes (1) and (2) may be any amino acid sequence resulting from deletion, substitution, addition or other modification of one to several amino acids in the amino acid sequence of the wild type enzyme as long as the resulting enzyme has the above-described enzymological properties. As used herein, the range specified by the phrase “one to several” as in “deletion, substitution or addition of one to several amino acids” in the amino acid sequence is not particularly limited but specifically refers to 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, or 20 amine acids, preferably 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, or 10 or so amino acids, more preferably 1, 2, 3, 4, or 5 or so amino acids. As used herein, the term “deletion of amino acids” means that amino acid residues are lost or eliminated from the sequence. The term “substitution of amino acids” means that amino acid residues are replaced with other amino acid residues. The term “addition of amino acids” means that new amino acid residues are added to the sequence by inserting them into the sequence.

Specific Embodiments of “deletion, substitution or addition of one to several amino acids” include embodiments in which one to several amino acids are replaced with other chemically similar amino acids. For example, a hydrophobic amino acid may be substituted with another hydrophobic amino acid, or a polar amino acid may be substituted with another polar amino acid having the same charge. Such chemically similar amino acids are known in the art for each amino acid. Specific examples of non-polar (hydrophobic) amino acids include alanine, valine, isoleucine, leucine, proline, tryptophan, phenylalanine, and methionine. Examples of polar (neutral) amino acids include glycine, serine, threonine, tyrosine, glutamine, aspargine, and cysteine. Examples of positively charged basic amino acids include arginine, histidine, and lysine. Examples of negatively charged acidic amino acids include asparatic acid, and glutamic acid.

Examples of the amino acid sequences resulting from deletion, substitution, addition or other modification of one to several amino acids in the amino acid sequence of the wild-type enzyme include amino acid sequences having a particular percentage or higher sequence identity to the amino acid sequence of the wild-type enzyme, such as amino acid sequences having 80% or higher, preferably 85% or higher, more preferably 90% or higher, 91% or higher, 92% or higher, 93% or higher, 94% or higher, 95% or higher, 96% or higher, 97% or higher, 98% or higher, or 99% or higher, still more preferably 99.5% or higher sequence identity to the amino acid sequence of the wild-type enzyme.

(Genes Encoding Enzymes (1) and (2))

The genes encoding the enzymes (1) and (2) may have any base sequence as long as such a base sequence encodes an amino acid sequence of an enzyme that has the above-described enzymological properties, or preferably, the above-described enzymological properties and structural properties. The genes encoding the enzymes (1) and (2) are overexpressed in the transformed filamentous fungus to produce the enzyme (1) and (2). As used herein, the term “expression of a gene” means that the enzyme encoded by a gene is produced via transcription and translation in a form that exhibits its inherent catalytic activities. As used herein, the term “overexpression of a gene” means that the protein (enzyme) encoded by an inserted gene is produced at a level exceeding the normal expression level of the protein in the host organism.

The genes encoding the enzymes (1) and (2) may be a gene that can produce the enzymes (1) and (2) via splicing after the gene introduced into the host organism is transcribed, or alternatively, it may be a gene that can produce enzymes (1) and (2) without requiring splicing after the transcription of the gene.

The genes encoding the enzymes (1) and (2) may not be completely identical to the inherent gene (i.e., wild-type gene) of the organism of origin: it may be any DNA fragment with a base sequence that hybridizes to the base sequence complementary to the base sequence of the wild-type gene under stringent conditions as long as the gene encodes an enzyme having at least the above-described enzymological properties.

As used herein, “the base sequence that hybridizes under stringent conditions” refers to a DNA base sequence obtained by colony hybridization, plaque hybridization, southern blot hybridization and other suitable hybridization techniques using a DNA fragment having the base sequence of the wild-type gene as a probe.

As used herein, the term “stringent condition” refers to a condition under which the signals from specific hybrids can be clearly distinguished from the signals from non-specific hybrids and may vary depending on the hybridization system used, type of the probe, and the sequence and its length. Such conditions may be determined by varying the hybridization temperature or by varying the washing temperature and the salt concentration. For example, if even the signals from non-specific hybrids are strongly detected, the specificity can be increased by increasing the temperature for the hybridization and the washing temperature and if necessary, by decreasing the salt concentration for the washing. In contrast, if even the signals from specific hybrids are not detected, the hybrids may be stabilized by decreasing the temperature for the hybridization and the washing and if necessary, by increasing the salt concentration for the washing.

A specific example of the stringent condition involves using a DNA probe as a probe and carrying out the hybridization overnight (approximately 8 to 16 hours) using 5×SSC, 1.0 (w/v) % blocking reagent for nucleic acid hybridization (Boehringer Mannheim), 0.1 (w/v) % N-lauroylsarcosine, and 0.02 (w/v) % SDS. The washing may be performed twice for 15 min each, using 0.1 to 0.5×SSC and 0.1 (w/v) % SDS, preferably 0.1×SSC and 0.1 (w/v) % SDS. The temperature to carry out the hybridization and the washing is 65° C. or higher, preferably 68° C. or higher.

Examples of the DNA having a base sequence that hybridizes under stringent conditions include DNA having the base sequence of the wild-type gene originating from a colony or plaque; DNA obtained by carrying out hybridization under stringent conditions using a filter on which fragments of the DNA are immobilized; and DNA identified by carrying out hybridization at 40 to 75° C. in the presence of 0.5 to 2.0 M NaCl, preferably at 65° C. in the presence of 0.7 to 1.0 M NaCl, and subsequently washing the filter at 65° C. using 0.1 to 1×SSC solution (a 1×SSC solution contains 150 mM sodium chloride and 15 mM sodium citrate). The preparation of the probe and the hybridization can be performed according to the procedures described in textbooks such as Molecular Cloning: A laboratory Manual, 2nd-Ed., Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, Cold Spring Harbor, N.Y., 1989, Current Protocols in Molecular Biology, Supplement 1-38, John Wiley & Sons, 1987-1997 (These literature will be referred to as reference literature, hereinafter. The entire disclosure of reference literature is incorporated herein by reference). Those skilled in the art would adequately determine the conditions for obtaining DNA having a base sequence that hybridizes to the base sequence complementary to the base sequence of the wild-type gene under stringent conditions by considering, in addition to the above-mentioned conditions such as the salt concentration of buffers and the temperature, other conditions such as the probe concentrations, probe lengths, and the reaction time.

Examples of the DNA having a base sequence that hybridizes under stringent conditions include a DNA having a particular percentage or higher sequence identity to the base sequence of the DNA used as a probe having the base sequence of the wild-type gene, such as DNA having 80% or higher, preferably 85% or higher, more preferably 90% or higher, 91% or higher, 92% or higher, 93% or higher, 94% or higher, 95% or higher, 96% or higher, 97% or higher, 98% or higher, or 99% or higher, still more preferably 99.5% or higher sequence identity to the base sequence of the wild-type gene.

Examples of the base sequence that hybridizes to a base sequence complimentary to the base sequence of the wild-type gene under stringent conditions include base sequences resulting from deletion, substitution, addition or other modification of from 1 to several, preferably from 1 to 50, more preferably from 1 to 30, even more preferably from 1 to 20, still even more preferably 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 or 10 bases in the base sequence of the wild-type gene. As used herein, the term “deletion of a base” means that a base is lost or eliminated from the sequence. The term “substitution of a base” means that a base is replaced with another base. The term “addition of a base” means that a new base is added to the sequence by inserting it into the sequence.

While the enzyme encoded by a base sequence that hybridizes to a base sequence complementary to the base sequence of the wild-type gene under stringent conditions should be an enzyme having an amino acid sequence resulting from deletion, substitution, addition or other modification of 1 to several amino acids in the amino acid sequence of the enzyme encoded by the base sequence of the wild-type gene, it has the same enzymatic activities as the enzyme encoded by the base sequence of the wild-type gene.

(Means for Calculating Sequence Identity)

While the sequence identity between base sequences or amino acid sequences may be determined by any method, it can be determined by using a commonly known method, whereby a wild-type gene or an amino acid sequence of an enzyme encoded by the wild-type gene is aligned with a base sequence or amino acid sequence of interest and the percent match between the two sequences is calculated using a program.

The algorithm of Karlin and Altschul is a known program for calculating the percent match between two amino acid sequences or base sequences (Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 87: 2264-2268, 1990; Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 90: 5873-5877, 1993). Using this algorithm, Altschul et al. developed the BLAST program (J. Mol. Biol. 215: 403-410, 1990). The Gapped BLAST program, which can determine the sequence identity in a more sensitive way than the BLAST, is also known (Nucleic Acids Res. 25: 3389-3402, 1997). Using the above-described programs, one skilled in the art can search in a database for a sequence with a high sequence identity to a given sequence. These programs are available on the website of U.S. National Center for Biotechnology Information (http://blast.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/Blast.cgi).

While the above-described methods are commonly used in the search of sequences with certain sequence identities from a database, Genetyx network model, version 12.0.1 (Genetyx corporation) may also be used in a homology analysis to determine the sequence identity of individual sequences. This method is based on the Lipman-Pearson method (Science 227:1435-1441, 1985). When analyzing the sequence identity of base sequences, regions encoding proteins (CDS or ORF) are used when possible.

(Origins of Genes Encoding Enzymes (1) and (2))

The genes encoding the enzymes (1) and (2) are derived from species having the ability to produce ergothioneine or species expressing the enzymes (1) and (2). Examples of the organisms of origin from which the genes encoding the enzymes (1) and (2) are derived include microorganisms. Of various microorganisms, filamentous fungi are preferred since many of their species are known to have the ability to produce ergothioneine. Examples of the filamentous fungi include fungi of the genus Aspergillus. Specific examples include Aspergillus sojae, Aspergillus oryzae, Aspergillus niger, Aspergillus tamarii, Aspergillus awamori, Aspergillus usamii, Aspergillus kawachii, and Aspergillus saitoi.

Aspergillus sojae, Aspergillus oryzae, Aspergillus niger, Aspergillus tamarii, Aspergillus awamori, Aspergillus usamii, Aspergillus kawachii, and Aspergillus saitoi listed above as specific examples of the filamentous fungi of the genus Aspergillus have long been used in the production of miso paste, soy sauce, Japanese sake, shochu liquor and other fermented products, as well as in the production of citric acid and enzymes such as amylases. Their high enzyme productivity and high reliability for the safety, backed by a long history of use, make these microorganisms highly useful in industrial applications.

As described above, while the organisms of origin from which the enzymes (1) and (2) are derived are not particularly limited, the enzymes (1) and (2) expressed in the transformed filamentous fungus might not be deactivated by the growth conditions of the host filamentous fungus or the enzymes might show their respective activities. For this reason, it is preferred that the organism of origin from which the genes encoding the enzymes (1) and (2) are derived be a host filamentous fungus to be transformed by the insertion of the genes encoding the enzymes (1) and (2) or a filamentous fungus that grows under conditions similar to the growth conditions of the host filamentous fungus.

(Cloning of Genes Encoding Enzymes (1) and (2) Using Genetic Engineering Technique)

The genes encoding the enzymes (1) and (2) can be inserted into various suitable known vectors. The resulting vector can then be introduced into a suitable known host organism to create a transformant in which the recombinant vector (recombinant DNA) containing the genes encoding enzymes (1) and (2) has been introduced. A person skilled in the art can appropriately select a suitable method for obtaining the genes encoding the enzymes (1) and (2), a method for obtaining the gene sequence encoding the enzymes (1) and (2) and the amino acid sequence information of the enzymes (1) and (2), as well as a method for preparing different vectors and a method for creating transformants. The terms “transformation” and “transformant” as used herein encompass transduction and transductants, respectively. One non-limiting example of cloning of the genes encoding the enzymes (1) and (2) will be described below.

Cloning of the genes encoding the enzymes (1) and (2) may suitably use commonly used gene cloning techniques. For example, using a standard technique such as the technique described in the reference literature, the chromosomal DNA and mRNA can be extracted from microorganisms and various cells capable of producing the enzymes (1) and (2). The extracted mRNA can be used as a template to synthesize cDNA. The resulting chromosomal DNA and cDNA may be used to construct a library of chromosomal DNA or cDNA.

For example, genes encoding the enzymes (1) and (2) can be obtained by cloning from the chromosomal DNA or cDNA derived from microorganisms having the genes, which serves as a template. The organisms of origin from which the genes encoding the enzymes (1) and (2) are derived are as described above; specific examples include, but are not limited to, Aspergillus sojae NBRC4239 strain, Aspergillus oryzae RIB40 strain, and Aspergillus niger IAM2533 strain. For example, the Aspergillus sojae NBRC4239 strain is cultured and the resulting cells are dehydrated and physically triturated using a mortar while chilled in liquid nitrogen to form fine powder-like cell debris, from which a fraction containing chromosomal DNA is extracted using a standard technique. A commercially available DNA extraction kit such as DNeasy Plant Mini Kit (Qiagen) can be used to extract the chromosomal DNA.

Subsequently, a polymerase chain reaction (referred to as PCR, hereinafter) was conducted using the chromosomal DNA as a template along with synthetic primers complementary to the sequences at the 5′ and 3′ ends. The primers are not particularly limited as long as they can amplify DNA fragments containing the gene. Examples of the primers include primers shown in SEQ ID NOs: 17 to 22 designed based on the genome sequence of Aspergillus sojae. These primers can amplify the full length of the target gene and can therefore eliminate the need for RACE. Alternatively, DNA sequences containing fragments of the target gene may be amplified using suitable PCR techniques such as 5′ RACE and 3′ RACE and these sequences are subsequently ligated to obtain a DNA segment containing the full length target gene.

The method for obtaining the genes encoding the enzymes (1) and (2) is not particularly limited; for example, rather than using genetic engineering techniques, the genes encoding the enzymes (1) and (2) may be constructed by chemical synthesis.

For example, the base sequences of the amplification products amplified by PCR and the chemically synthesized genes may be determined as follows. First, the DNA segment to be sequenced is inserted into a suitable vector according to the standard technique to prepare a recombinant DNA. For cloning into a vector, a commercially available kit, such as TA Cloning Kit (Invitrogen); commercially available plasmid vector DNA, such as pUC119 (Takara Bio), pUC18 (Takara Bio), pBR322 (Takara Bio), pBluescript SK+ (Stratagene), and pYES2/CT (Invitrogen); and commercially available bacteriophage vector DNA, such as λEMBL3 (Stratagene), may be used. The recombinant DNA is then used to transform host organisms, such as Escherichia coli, preferably E. coli JM109 strain (Takara Bio) and E. coli DH5α strain (Takara Bio). The recombinant DNA present in the transformant is then purified using a purification kit such as QIAGEN Plasmid Mini Kit (Qiagen).

The base sequences of genes inserted in the recombinant DNA are then determined by the dideoxy sequencing technique (Methods in Enzymology, 101, 20-78, 1983). The sequence analyzer used to determine the base sequence is not particularly limited; for example, Li-COR MODEL 4200L sequencer (Aloka), 370DNA sequencing system (Perkin Elmer), CEQ2000XL DNA analysis system (Beckman) may be used. The determined base sequences may then be used to estimate the amino acid sequence of the translated proteins, thus, the enzymes (1) and (2).

(Construction of a Recombinant Vector Containing Genes Encoding Enzymes (1) and (2))

Recombinant vectors containing the genes encoding the enzymes (1) and (2) (recombinant DNA) can be constructed by connecting a PCR amplification product containing any of the genes encoding the enzymes (1) and (2) with any of various vectors in such a manner that the recombinant vector can express the genes encoding the enzymes (1) and (2). For example, such a recombinant vector may be constructed by excising a DNA fragment containing any of the genes encoding the enzymes (1) and (2) with appropriate restriction enzyme and ligating the DNA fragment into a plasmid cut with appropriate restriction enzyme. The recombinant vector may also be obtained by connecting a DNA fragment containing the gene and having sequences homologous to a plasmid attached to the both ends with a DNA fragment derived from the plasmid amplified by inverse PCR using a commercially available recombinant vector preparation kit such as In-Fusion HD Cloning Kit (Clontech).

Another embodiment of the present invention includes a recombinant vector containing a gene encoding the enzyme (1), a recombinant vector containing a gene encoding the enzyme (2), and a recombinant vector containing both a gene encoding the enzyme (1) and a gene encoding the enzyme (2). The recombinant vector of the present invention may be used to create a transformed filamentous fungus of the present invention.

The recombinant vector of the present invention preferably includes a heterologous gene or a heterologous nucleic acid sequence. The heterologous gene may be any gene not naturally occurring in the host organism, including, for example, synthetic genes not based on the nucleic acid sequence derived from the host organism, genes derived from an organism different from the organism of origin from which the gene encoding the enzyme (1) is derived, genes derived from filamentous fungi or microorganisms other than the host organism, and genes derived from plants, animals or viruses. Specific examples of the heterologous genes when the host organism is a filamentous fungus includes, but are not limited to, DNA fragments derived from pUC19.

Specific examples of the recombinant vectors of the present invention include, but are not limited to, a recombinant vector containing a DNA fragment derived from pUC19, a DNA fragment derived from Ptef, a DNA fragment derived from AsEgtA and/or AsEgtC, a DNA fragment derived from Talp, and a DNA fragment derived from pyrG that are connected to one another.

(Method for Creating a Transformed Filamentous Fungus)

The method for creating a transformed filamentous fungus is not particularly limited; for example, a gene(s) encoding the enzyme (1) or the enzymes (1) and (2) may be inserted in the host filamentous fungus according to a standard method in such a manner that the enzymes are expressed in the host filamentous fungus. Specifically, a DNA construct in which any of the genes encoding the enzymes (1) and (2) has been inserted between an expression-inducing promoter and a terminator is constricted. Subsequently, a host filamentous fungus is transformed with only the DNA construct containing the gene encoding the enzyme (1) or with both the DNA construct containing the gene encoding the enzyme (1) and the DNA construct containing the gene encoding the enzyme (2) to obtain a transformed filamentous fungus that overexpresses only the gene encoding the enzyme (1) or both the gene encoding the enzyme (1) and the gene encoding the enzyme (2). In the present specification, DNA fragments comprising an expression-inducing promoter—a gene encoding the enzyme (1) or (2)—a terminator and recombinant vectors containing the DNA fragment that are prepared to transform the host filamentous fungus are collectively referred to as “DNA constructs.”

The method for inserting the gene(s) encoding the enzyme (1) or the enzymes (1) and (2) in a host filamentous fungus in such a manner that the enzymes are expressed in the host filamentous fungus is not particularly limited; for example, the gene may be directly inserted into the chromosome of the host organism by making use of homologous recombination, or the gene may be connected to a plasmid vector, which is then introduced into the host filamentous fungus.

In the method that makes use of homologous recombination, a DNA construct may be connected between sequences homologous to the upstream region and the downstream region of a recombination site on a chromosome and inserted into the genome of the host filamentous fungus. As a result of this self-cloning, a transformant can be obtained in which the gene is overexpressed under control of a high expression promoter in the DNA construct. The high expression promoter may be any high expression promoter, including, for example, a promoter region of translation elongation factor TEF1 gene (tef1), a promoter region of α-amylase gene (amy), a promoter region of alkaline protease gene (alp), and other suitable promoters.

In the method that makes use of a vector, a DNA construct is integrated into a plasmid vector used to transform filamentous fungi using a standard method and a corresponding host filamentous fungus can be transformed with the plasmid vector according to a standard method.

A suitable vector—host system may be any system that allows the production of the enzyme (1) or the enzymes (1) and (2) in the host filamentous fungus, including, for example, a system based on pUC19 and a filamentous fungus, and a system based on pSTA14 (Mol. Gen. Genet. 218, 99-104, 1989) and a filamentous fungus.

While the DNA construct is preferably introduced into the chromosome of the host filamentous fungus, it may be used without introducing into the chromosome by integrating into a self-replicating vector (Ozeki et al. Biosci. Biotechnol. Biochem. 59, 1133 (1995)).

The DNA construct may contain a marker gene that allows the selection of transformed cells. Examples of the marker gene include, but are not limited to, genes compensating for the nutritional requirements of the host, such as pyrG, niaD and adeA; and drug-resistant genes such as those against pyrithiamine, hygromycin B and oligomycin. Also, the DNA construct preferably contains a promoter, a terminator and other regulatory sequences (such as enhancer and polyadenylated sequences) that enable the overexpression of the genes encoding the enzyme (1) or the enzymes (1) and (2) in the host cells. The promoter may be any suitable expression-inducing promoter or constitutive promoter, including, for example, tef1 promoter, alp promoter, and amy promoter. The terminator may also be any terminator, including, for example, alp terminator, amy terminator, and tef1 terminator.

The regulatory sequences for the genes encoding the enzymes (1) and (2) in the DNA construct are not necessarily required if the DNA fragments containing the genes encoding the enzymes (1) and (2) contain sequences having expression regulatory functions. Also, when transformation is performed by the cotransformation method, the DNA construct may not contain any marker genes.

Purification tags may be added to the DNA construct. For example, a suitable linker sequence may be added to the upstream or downstream of the gene encoding the enzymes (1) or (2) and six or more codons of histidine-encoding base sequences may be added to the linker to enable the purification on a nickel column.

One embodiment of the DNA construct is a DNA construct in which a tef1 gene promoter, a gene encoding the enzymes (1) or (2), an alp gene terminator and a pyrG marker gene are connected to the In-Fusion cloning Site located in the multiple cloning site of pUC19.

Any properly selected method known to those skilled in the art may be used for transformation into filamentous fungi; for example, the protoplast PEG technique in which protoplasts of a filamentous fungus are prepared and polyethylene glycol and calcium chloride are added may be used (See, for example, Mol. Gen. Genet. 218, 99-104, 1989, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2007-222055). The culture medium to regenerate the transformed filamentous fungus is properly selected depending on the host filamentous fungi and the transformation marker gene used. For example, when Aspergillus sojae is used as the host filamentous fungus and pyrG gene is used as the transformation marker gene, the transformed filamentous fungus can be regenerated in a Czapek-Dox minimal medium (Difco) containing 0.5% agar and 1.2M sorbitol.

Alternatively, in order to obtain the transformed filamentous fungus of the present invention, the endogenous promoter for the gene(s) encoding the enzyme (1) or the enzymes (1) and (2) present on the chromosome of the host filamentous fungus may be substituted with a high expression promoter such as tef1 by homologous recombination. Again, a transformation marker gene such as pyrG is preferably inserted in addition to the high expression promoter. For example, a transformation cassette consisting of the upstream region of the gene encoding the enzyme (1) or (2)—a transformation marker gene—a high expression promoter—all or a part of the gene encoding the enzyme (1) or (2) described in Example 1 and FIG. 1 of Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2011-239681 may be used for this purpose. In this case, the upstream region of the gene encoding the enzyme (1) or (2) and all or a part of the gene encoding the enzyme (1) or (2) are used in homologous recombination. The all or a part of the gene encoding the enzyme (1) or (2) may include a region of the gene extending from the start codon to somewhere down the length of the gene. A suitable length of the region is preferably 0.5 kb or longer for homologous recombination.

In order to confirm that the transformed filamentous fungus of the present invention has successfully been created, the transformed filamentous fungus may be cultured under a condition that allows the detection of the enzymatic activity of the enzyme (1) or the enzymes (1) and (2) and subsequently a comparison is made to determine if the amount of ergothioneine produced in the culture after a culture period is greater than the amount of ergothioneine produced in the culture of the host filamentous fungi cultured under the same condition.

Alternatively, the confirmation of successful creation of the transformed filamentous fungus of the present invention may be made by extracting the chromosomal DNA from the transformed filamentous fungus, and performing a PCR using the chromosomal DNA as a template DNA to detect the presence of a PCR product that can be amplified if the transformation has occurred.

For example, a PCR can be performed using a combination of a forward primer for the base sequence of the promoter used and a reverse primer for the base sequence of the transformation marker gene and whether the product having an expected length is produced is determined.

When the transformation is carried out by homologous recombination, it is preferred to perform a PCR using a forward primer located upstream of the upstream homologous region used and a reverse primer located downstream of the downstream homologous region used and then determine whether the product having a length expected when the homologous recombination has occurred is produced.

(Host Filamentous Fungus)

The host filamentous fungus may be any filamentous fungus that can produce the enzyme (1) or the enzymes (1) and (2) when transformed by a DNA construct containing the gene encoding the enzyme (1) or DNA constructs containing the genes encoding the enzymes (1) and (2), respectively. Examples include, but are not limited to, filamentous fungi in which the production of ergothioneine is detected and filamentous fungi that have genes encoding the enzymes (1) and (2) on their genomic DNA. Specific examples of the host filamentous fungi include filamentous fungi described in Non-Patent Documents 1 and 2, such as filamentous fungi belonging the genus Aspergillus, the genus Neurospora, the genus Penicillium, the genus Fusarium, the genus Trichoderma, the genus Mucor, the genus Rhizopus, and the genus Neuspora. Examples of the filamentous fungi that have genes encoding the enzymes (1) and (2) on their genomic DNA include filamentous fungi belonging to the genus Neosartorya, the genus Byssochlamys, the genus Talaromyces, the genus Ajellomyces, the genus Paracoccidioides, the genus Uncinocarpus, the genus Coccidioides, the genus Arthroderma, the genus Trichophyton, the genus Exophiala, the genus Capronia, the genus Cladophialophora, the genus Macrophomina, the genus Leptosphaeria, the genus Bipolaris, the genus Dothistroma, the genus Pyrenophora, the genus Neofusicoccum, the genus Setosphaeria, the genus Baudoinia, the genus Gaeumannomyces, the genus Marssonina, the genus Sphaerulina, the genus Sclerotinia, the genus Magnaporthe, the genus Verticillium, the genus Pseudocercospora, the genus Colletotrichum, the genus Ophiostoma, the genus Metarhizium, the genus Sporothrix, and the genus Sordaria.

Of these filamentous fungi, in terms of the safety and easy culturing, the host filamentous fungus is preferably any of the microorganisms of the genus Aspergillus listed above as the organisms of origin from which the genes encoding the enzymes (1) and (2) are derived, including Aspergillus sojae, Aspergillus oryzae, Aspergillus niger, Aspergillus tamarii, Aspergillus awamori, Aspergillus usamii, Aspergillus kawachii, and Aspergillus saitoi.

(Specific Examples of Genes Encoding Enzymes (1) and (2))

Examples of the gene encoding the enzyme (1) derived from the Aspergillus sojae NBRC4239 strain include a gene AsEgtA, which will be described in Examples below. Examples of the gene encoding the enzyme (2) derived from the Aspergillus sojae NBRC4239 strain include genes AsEgtB and AsEgtC, which will be also described in Examples below. The base sequences of the genes AsEgtA, AsEgtB and AsEgtC are shown in SEQ ID NOs: 1 to 3 in the sequence listing, respectively. Further, the amino acid sequences of the AsEgtA, AsEgtB and AsEgtC proteins are shown in SEQ ID NOs: 4 to 6 in the sequence listing, respectively.

Examples of the gene encoding the enzyme (1) derived from the Aspergillus oryzae RIB40 strain include a gene AoEgtA, which will be described in Examples below. Examples of the gene encoding the enzyme (2) derived from the Aspergillus oryzae RIB40 strain include genes AoEgtB and AoEgtC, which will be described in Examples below. The base sequences of the genes AoEgtA, AoEgtB and AoEgtC are shown in SEQ ID NOs: 23 to 25 in the sequence listing, respectively. Further, the amino acid sequences of the AoEgtA, AoEgtB and AoEgtC proteins are shown in SEQ ID NOs: 26 to 28 in the sequence listing, respectively.

Examples of the gene encoding the enzyme (1) derived from the Aspergillus niger IAM2533 strain include a gene AnEgtA, which will be described in Examples below. The base sequences of the gene AnEgtA is shown in SEQ ID NO: 33 in the sequence listing, respectively. Further, the amino acid sequence of the AnEgtA protein is shown in SEQ ID NO: 34 in the sequence listing.

Genes encoding the enzymes (1) and (2) may be obtained from filamentous fungi other than those of Aspergillus sojae, Aspergillus oryzae and Aspergillus niger by any suitable method. For example, a homology search by BLAST may be conducted on the genomic DNA of other filamentous fungi based on the base sequences of the genes AsEgtA, AsEgtB and AsEgtC (SEQ ID NOs: 1 to 3) and the amino acid sequences of the AsEgtA, AsEgtB and AsEgtC proteins (SEQ ID NOs: 4 to 6), to identify genes having a base sequence with a high sequence identity to the base sequences of the genes AsEgtA, AsEgtB and AsEgtC. Alternatively, genes encoding the enzymes (1) and (2) may be obtained by identifying proteins having a high sequence identity to the AsEgtA, AsEgtB and AsEgtC proteins from the total protein of filamentous fungi and identifying the genes encoding these proteins. Whether the resulting genes are equivalent to the genes encoding the enzymes (1) and (2) can be determined by transforming the organism of origin (as the host filamentous fungus) with the obtained gene and determining if the production of ergothioneine is enhanced compared to the host filamentous fungi.

Since Aspergillus sojae, Aspergillus oryzae and Aspergillus niger grow under similar conditions, it may be possible to insert the genes of the respective fungi into one another to mutually transform the respective fungi. For example, a gene(s) encoding the enzyme (1) or the enzymes (1) and (2) derived from Aspergillus sojae may be introduced into the host filamentous fungus of Aspergillus oryzae or Aspergillus niger to transform them. In order to ensure that the enzyme (1) or the enzymes (1) and (2) have the desired enzymatic activity, it is preferred that the filamentous fungus of origin from which the genes encoding the enzyme (1) or the enzymes (1) and (2) are derived and the host filamentous fungus are identical. For example, a gene(s) encoding the enzyme (1) or the enzymes (1) and (2) derived from Aspergillus sojae may be introduced into the same Aspergillus sojae.

The genes encoding the enzymes (1) and (2) may be genes optimized for their codons, secondary structures, and GC contents based on the amino acid sequence of the genes encoding the enzymes (1) and (2) derived from Aspergillus sojae. Specific examples of such genes include EcEgtA (SEQ ID NO: 37) and EcEgtC (SEQ ID NO: 38) synthesized for expression in E. coli.

(One Embodiment of Transformed Filamentous Fungi of the Present Invention)

One embodiment of the present invention is a transformed filamentous fungus obtained by inserting the genes AsEgtA, AoEgtA and/or AnEgtA into Aspergillus sojae, Aspergillus oryzae, Aspergillus niger or other filamentous fungi so that the proteins encoded by the inserted genes are overexpressed in the fungus. One embodiment of the present invention is a transformed filamentous fungus transformed by inserting the genes AsEgtA, AoEgtA and/or AnEgtA, and the genes AsEgtB, AsEgtC, AoEgtB and/or AoEgtC into Aspergillus sojae, Aspergillus oryzae, Aspergillus niger or other filamentous fungi so that the proteins encoded by the inserted genes are overexpressed in the fungus. Such transformed filamentous fungi show a higher production of ergothioneine than the host filamentous fungus since they overexpress the enzyme (1) or the enzymes (1) and (2) encoded by the inserted genes. Furthermore, as described in Examples below, the transformed Aspergillus sojae transformed to overexpress the AsEgtA protein and the AsEgtB or AsEgtC protein, for example, shows a higher production of ergothioneine than the transformed Aspergillus sojae transformed to overexpress the AsEgtA protein alone. Accordingly, the transformed filamentous fungus of the present invention is preferably a transformed filamentous fungus in which the expression of the gene(s) encoding the enzyme (1) or the enzymes (1) and (2) is enhanced such that the amount of ergothioneine is increased compared to the host filamentous fungus. Also, the transformed filamentous fungus of the present invention is more preferably a transformed filamentous fungus in which the expression of the genes encoding the enzymes (1) and (2) is enhanced such that the amount of ergothioneine is increased compared to a transformed filamentous fungi in which the expression of the gene encoding the enzyme (1) is enhanced.

Also, as described in Examples below, when the transformed Aspergillus sojae transformed to overexpress the AsEgtA protein or the transformed Aspergillus sojae transformed to overexpress the AsEgtA protein and the AsEgtB or AsEgtC protein was cultured at 30° C. for 3 days in a DPY medium suitable for the growth of the host filamentous fungi Aspergillus sojae, ergothioneine was obtained in an amount of 26.6 to 37.3 mg per 1 g of dry cell mass. In contrast, when the transformed Aspergillus sojae transformed to overexpress the AsEgtB or AsEgtC protein is cultured under the same condition, ergothioneine was obtained only in an amount of 0.9 to 1.2 mg per 1 g of dry cell mass. Accordingly, one embodiment of the transformed filamentous fungus of the present invention is a transformed filamentous fungus in which the expression of the gene(s) encoding the enzyme (1) or the enzymes (1) and (2) is enhanced such that when the transformed filamentous fungus of the present invention is cultured at 30° C. for 3 days in a culture medium suitable for the growth of the host filamentous fungi, the amount of ergothioneine is 5.0 mg or more, preferably 10.0 mg or more, more preferably 20.0 mg or more, still more preferably 25.0 mg or more per 1 g of dry cell mass. Furthermore, another embodiment of the transformed filamentous fungus of the present invention is a transformed filamentous fungus in which the expression of the genes encoding the enzymes (1) and (2) is enhanced such that when the transformed filamentous fungus of the present invention is cultured at 30° C. for 3 days in a culture medium suitable for the growth of the host filamentous fungi, the amount of ergothioneine is 27.0 mg or more, preferably 28.0 mg or more, more preferably 29.0 mg or more, still more preferably 30.0 mg or more per 1 g of dry cell mass.

In some cases, the transformed filamentous fungus of the present invention may express, along with the enzymes (1) and (2) produced from the inserted genes encoding the enzymes (1) and (2), wild-type enzymes (1) and (2) that have the same or different structural properties as/from the enzymes (1) and (2), the wild-type enzymes (1) and (2) being expressed by the genes encoding the endogenous enzymes (1) and (2) of the host filamentous fungi.

Another aspect of the present invention includes a transformed archaebacterium or a transformed bacterium that has genes encoding the enzymes (1) and (2) inserted therein and that overexpresses the inserted genes. Non-limiting examples of the transformed bacteria include transformed E. coli transformed with a plasmid vector containing EcEgtA or EcEgtA and EcEgtC.

(Production Method of Ergothioneine of the Present Invention)

One production method of ergothioneine of the present invention includes at least the step of applying histidine and cysteine to the transformed filamentous fungus of the present invention to obtain ergothioneine. The method for applying histidine and cysteine to the transformed filamentous fungus is not particularly limited and may be any method that can expose the transformed filamentous fungus to histidine and cysteine to allow the enzymes of the transformed filamentous fungus to produce ergothioneine. For example, the transformed filamentous fungus may be cultured in a culture medium containing histidine and cysteine and optimized for the growth of the transformed filamentous fungus under various culture conditions suitable for the transformed filamentous fungus, to produce ergothioneine. The culture method is not particularly limited; for example, the solid culture or liquid culture technique performed under aeration condition may be employed.

The culture medium may be any standard culture medium designed for culturing filamentous fungi, that is, either synthetic or natural culture medium that contains a carbon source, a nitrogen source, inorganic materials, and other nutrients in suitable proportions. When the filamentous fungus is a microorganism of the genus Aspergillus, the DPY medium as described in Examples below may be used while not particularly limited. It is preferred, however, that the medium contain, as a component, iron (II) required for the activation of the enzyme (1). While iron (II) may be added to the medium in the form of a compound, it may also be added as a mineral-containing material.

Histidine and cysteine are not particularly limited; for example, histidine and cysteine themselves, derivatives containing histidine and cysteine as constituents (for example, cystine), and histidine- and cysteine-containing materials may be used.

The culture condition may be any culture condition commonly known to those skilled in the art; for example, the initial pH of the culture medium may be conditioned to 5 to 10 and the culture temperature to 20 to 40° C., and the culture time may be properly selected and may vary from several hours to several days, preferably from 1 to 7 days, and more preferably from 2 to 5 days. The culture means is not particularly limited; for example, an aerated, agitated, submerged culture, a shake culture, a static culture or other suitable culture techniques may be employed with the culture condition preferably adjusted so that sufficient amounts of dissolved oxygen are present. One example of the culture medium and culture condition for culturing microorganisms of the genus Aspergillus includes a shake culture in which the fungus is cultured at 30° C. under shaking at 160 rpm over 3 to 5 days in a DPY medium as described in Examples below.

The method for extracting ergothioneine from the culture after completion of the culture is not particularly limited. For extraction purposes, the fungal cells collected from the culture by filtration, centrifugation or other manipulation may be used without further processing, or alternatively, the fungal cells dried or, if desired, triturated after collection may be used. The method for drying fungal cells is not particularly limited; for example, lyophilization, drying in the sun, hot-air drying, vacuum drying, aeration drying, drying under reduced pressure or other suitable drying techniques may be used.

The solvent used for extraction may be any solvent that can dissolve ergothioneine, including, for example, organic solvents, such as methanol, ethanol, isopropanol and acetone; water-containing organic solvents composed of these organic solvents and water mixed together; and water, warm water and hot water. After addition of the solvent, ergothioneine is extracted while the cells are triturated as necessary. The temperature of the extraction solvent may be set to from room temperature to 100° C.

In one embodiment of the extraction method of ergothioneine, the fungal cells collected from the culture are washed with water and added to water to prepare a suspension. The resulting suspension is then subjected to a heat treatment such as at 98 to 100° C. for 15 minutes and then centrifuged to collect the supernatant. Subsequently, the collected supernatant is filtered to remove impurities. Alternatively, the heated suspension may be directly filtered without centrifugation.

Instead of the heat treatment described above, the cells may be subjected to cell destruction processes that break cells using cell destruction means such as an ultrasonicator, a French press, a DYNO-MILL, and a mortar; processes for lysing the fungal cell walls with Yatalase and other cell wall-lysing enzymes; or processes for lysing the fungal cells with a surfactant such as SDS and Triton X-100. These processes may be used either individually or in combination.

In order to purify ergothioneine, the resulting extract can be subjected to various purification processes including centrifugation, filtration, ultrafiltration, gel filtration, separation by solubility difference, solvent extraction, chromatography (adsorption chromatography, hydrophobic interaction chromatography, cation exchange chromatography, anion exchange chromatography, and reversed-phase chromatography), crystallization, active carbon treatment, membrane treatment, and other purification processes.

The qualitative or quantitative analysis technique of ergothioneine is not particularly limited; the analysis may be conducted by, for example, HPLC. A person skilled in the art would properly select the conditions for the HPLC separation; for example, HPLC may be performed using the conditions described in Examples below.

The transformed filamentous fungus of the present invention can be used to obtain ergothioneine in high yields. For example, the yield of ergothioneine shown in FIG. S6 of Non-Patent Document 5 is an extremely low amount of at most about 10 μg per 40 mL of the culture. In contrast, as much as 3 mg or more ergothioneine per 10 ml of the culture can be produced by using the transformed filamentous fungus of the present invention.

(Production Method of High-Purity-Ergothioneine-Containing Compositions of the Present Invention)

The method for producing a high-purity-ergothioneine-containing composition according to the present invention includes the step of culturing a transformed filamentous fungus in a culture medium containing histidine and cysteine and suitable for the growth of the host filamentous fungus to obtain a culture, from which an ergothioneine-containing composition having a purity of 5% or higher is obtained.

The purity of the ergothioneine-containing composition obtained by the production method of a high-purity-ergothioneine-containing composition of the present invention may be any concentration higher than or equal to 5%. Preferably, the purity is higher than or equal to 6%, more preferably higher than or equal to 8%, and still more preferably higher than or equal to 9%. In order to measure the purity of the ergothioneine-containing composition, for example, an ergothioneine extract is obtained from the culture obtained by culturing the transformed filamentous fungus of the present invention. The resulting ergothioneine extract is then dried by, for example, lyophilization, to obtain a dry powder. The resulting dry powder is then dissolved in distilled water to a proper concentration to give a sample for purity measurement. The sample is then measured by HPLC or other techniques for quantify ergothioneine and the purity is calculated from the results of the measurement and the sample for purity measurement.

Another embodiment of the production method of the present invention is a production method that uses, rather than the transformant, a microorganism that has the gene(s) encoding the enzyme (1) or the enzymes (1) and (2) on its genomic DNA. Another embodiment of the production method of the present invention, for example, is a production method of ergothioneine or a high-purity-ergothioneine-containing composition, comprising the step of applying histidine and cysteine to a filamentous fungus, such as a microorganism of the genus Aspergillus, such as Aspergillus oryzae and Aspergillus sojae, having a gene(s) encoding the enzyme (1) or the enzymes (1) and (2) on its genomic DNA to obtain ergothioneine or a high-purity-ergothioneine-containing composition.

Ergothioneine, which is the product of the production method of the present invention, can cause growth inhibition or production inhibition in the microorganism used. Accordingly, an oxidizing agent such as copper ions may be added to the culture medium to dimerize (by formation of S-S linkage) the ergothioneine product and to thereby avoid the grow inhibition or the production inhibition in the microorganism. Thus, in the production method of the present invention, it is preferred that oxidizing agents such as copper ions is present upon application of histidine and cysteine to the microorganism.

In the production method of the present invention, various other steps or manipulations may be performed before, after, or during the above-described step as long as the objectives of the present invention can be achieved.

(Application of Ergothioneine)

Having advantageous characteristics of being a functional biological material having various physiological activities, as well as being a heat-resistant, water-soluble material, the ergothioneine obtained by the transformed filamentous fungus or the production method of the present invention are useful as functional food products, food and beverage products for specified health use, food and beverage products with nutrient function claims, food and beverage products with health function claims, food and beverage products for special uses, nutritional supplement food and beverage products, health-promoting food and beverage products, supplements, beauty food and beverage products, cosmetic products, pharmaceutical products, quasi-pharmaceutical products, animal feeds, and raw-materials for producing these products.

The present invention will now be described in further detail with reference to the following Examples, which are not intended to limit the present invention. The present invention may take various forms to the extent that the objectives of the present invention are achieved.

EXAMPLES Example 1: Preparation of DNA Constructs with an Inserted Gene AsEgtA, AsEgtB or AsEgtC

(1) Searching of Genes of Interest

NCU04343 and NCU11365 are among the enzymes known to be involved in the biosynthesis of ergothioneine in Neurospora crassa (See, Non-Patent Documents 3 and 4). Non-Patent Document 3 also suggests the possible involvement of NCU04636 in the biosynthesis of ergothioneine. Given that, using genes encoding the three enzymes of Neurospora crassa as query sequences, domains with a relatively high sequence identity to the genes encoding each of NCU04343, NCU04636 and NCU11365 were searched based on the genome sequence of the NBRC4239 strain of Aspergillus sojae. The search was conducted using a BLAST program (tblastn) and the genome sequence of the NBRC4239 strain of Aspergillus sojae (DDBJ/EMBL/GenBank DNA databases, Accession numbers for the 65 scaffold sequences; DF093557-DF093585, DNA RESEARCH 18, 165-176, 2011).

As a result, a gene shown in SEQ ID NO: 1 was found as a sequence domain with a relatively high sequence identity to NCU04343. This gene was named as AsEgtA gene (SEQ ID NO: 1), indicating an egtA gene originating from Aspergillus sojae. Also, a gene shown in SEQ ID NO: 2 was found as a sequence domain with a relatively high sequence identity to NCU04636 and was named as AsEgtB gene (SEQ ID NO: 2). Further, a gene shown in SEQ ID NO: 3 was found as a sequence domain with a relatively high sequence identity to NCU11365 and was named as AsEgtC Gene (SEQ ID NO: 3).

A comparison of the sequence identity on the amino acid level was performed using a gene information processing software Genetyx network model, version 12.0.1 (Genetyx) and indicated the sequence identities of the AsEgtA protein (SEQ ID NO: 4), the AsEgtB protein (SEQ ID NO: 5) and the AsEgtC protein (SEQ ID NO: 6) to NCU04343, NCU04636 and NCU11365 were 46%, 75% and 44%, respectively. Also, the sequence identity of AsEgtC protein to SPBC660.12c, an ortholog of NCU11365 in Schizosaccharomyces pombe, was found to be 27%. These results suggest that the base sequences and the amino acid sequences of AsEgtA, AsEgtB and AsEgtC may be used to search for the egtA, egtB and egtC genes of other microorganisms of the genus Aspergillus.

(2) Extraction of Chromosomal DNA of Aspergillus sojae NBRC4239 Strain

In a 150 ml Erlenmeyer flask, 30 mL of a polypeptone-dextrin medium (1 (w/v) % polypeptone, 2 (w/v) % dextrin, 0.5 (w/v) % KH₂PO₄, 0.1 (w/v) % NaNO₃, 0.05 (w/v) % MgSO₄.7H₂O, 0.1 (w/v) % casamino acid; pH 6.0) was prepared with distilled water. The medium was inoculated with the conidia of Aspergillus sojae NBRC4239 strain and was subjected to shake culture overnight at 30° C. The cells were collected from the resulting culture broth by filtration and were placed between sheets of paper towel to remove moisture. The cells were then triturated using a liquid nitrogen-chilled mortar and pestle while being chilled in liquid nitrogen. Using DNeasy Plant Mini Kit (Qiagen), the chromosomal DNA was extracted from the resulting triturated cells.

(3) Preparation of a Construct Plasmid

The following elements were integrated into plasmid pUC19 to make a plasmid for making a construct (construct plasmid): Ptef, a promoter sequence of translation elongation factor gene tef1 (a 748 bp upstream region of tef1 gene; SEQ ID NO: 7); Talp, a terminator sequence of alkaline protease gene alp (a 800 bp downstream region of alp gene; SEQ ID NO: 8); and pyrG, a transformation marker gene that compensates for the requirement for uridine (1838 bp including a 407 bp upstream region, a 896 bp coding region and a 535 bp downstream region; SEQ ID NO: 9). Specifically, the plasmid was prepared in the following manner.

Ptef, Talp and pyrG were amplified by PCR using chromosomal DNA of Aspergillus sojae NBRC4239 strain obtained above to serve as a template DNA, KOD-Plus-DNA Polymerase (Toyobo) to serve as PCR enzyme, the reagents provided with the enzyme to serve as reaction reagents, and Mastercycler gradient (Eppendolf) to serve as a PCR device. The PCR was performed according to the protocol provided with the enzyme. Primers used to amplify Ptef, Talp and pyrG and the PCR conditions are shown in Tables 1 to 3 below. Of the sequences shown in the tables, the sequences shown in lower case are added sequences that serve to connect the amplified fragments of Ptef, Talp and pyrG in this order and further connect them to pUC19. The amplified DNA fragments were separated in 1 (w/v) % agarose gel and purified using QIAquick Gel Extraction Kit (Qiagen).

TABLE 1 Amplified target region Pref Forward primer Ptef1_-748R_pUC SEQ ID NO: 10 cggtacccggggatcTGTGGACCAGACAGGCG CCACTC Reverse primer Ptef1_-1R_Talp SEQ ID NO: 11 atgtactcctggtacTTTGAAGGTGGTGCGAA CTTTGTAG PCR condition 2 min. at 94° C. (15 sec. at 94° C., 30 sec. at 62° C., 1 min. at 68° C.) × 25 cycles

TABLE 2 Amplified target region Talp Forward primer Talp_1F SEQ ID NO: 12 GTACCAGGAGTACATTGGAGAGTTCTAC Reverse primer Talp_800R SEQ ID NO: 13 CCGATCCAACCACCCGGCTATCG PCR condition 2 min. at 94° C. (15 sec. at 94° C., 30 sec. at 62° C., 1 min. at 68° C.) × 25 cycles

TABLE 3 Amplified target region pyrG Forward primer PyrG_407_F_Talp SEQ ID NO: 14 gggtggttggatcggTTGGGCTTATTGCTATGTCC CTGAAAGG Reverse primer PyrG_1431R_pUC SEQ ID NO: 15 cgactctagaggatcCCGCACCTCAGAAGAAAAGG ATGA PCR condition 2 min. at 94° C. (15 sec. at 94° C., 30 sec. at 62° C., 2 min. at 68° C.) × 25 cycles

pUC19 used was pUC19 linearized Vector provided with In-Fusion HD Cloning Kit (Clontech). Using In-Fusion HD Cloning Kit described above, the amplified Ptef, Talp and pyrG were ligated into pUC19 at In-Fusion Cloning Site located in the multiple cloning site according to the protocols provided with the kit, to obtain a construct plasmid.

The resulting construct plasmid was used to transform competent cells ECOS Competent E. coli JM109 (Nippon Gene) in accordance with the manufacturer's instructions to obtain transformed E. coli.

The resulting transformed E. coli was then subjected to shake culture overnight at 37° C. in an LB liquid medium containing 50 μg/ml ampicillin. After the culture period, the culture solution was centrifuged to collect cells. Using FastGene Plasmid Mini Kit (Nippon Genetics), plasmid DNA was extracted from the collected cells according to the protocols provided with the kit.

(4) Preparation of a Construct for Inserting a Gene of Interest

A DNA construct consisting of genes of interest AsEgtA, AsEgtB or AsEgtC connected between Ptef and Talp of a construct plasmid was prepared as follows.

An inverse PCR was performed using the construct plasmid obtained above to serve as a template DNA, KOD-Plus-DNA Polymerase (Toyobo) to serve as PCR enzyme, the reagents provided with the enzyme to serve as reaction reagents, and Mastercycler gradient (Eppendolf) to serve as a PCR device. The inverse PCR was performed according to the protocol provided with the enzyme to obtain a vector fragment of the construct plasmid. Primers and the PCR conditions used are shown in Table 4 below. The amplified vector fragments were separated in 1 (w/v) % agarose gel and purified using QIAquick Gel Extraction Kit (Qiagen).

TABLE 4 Amplified target region Construct plasmid Forward primer Ptef_-1R SEQ ID NO: 16 TTTGAAGGTGGTGCGAACTTTGTAG Reverse primer Talp_1F (above described) SEQ ID NO: 12 GTACCAGGAGTACATTGGAGAGTTCTAC PCR condition 2 min. at 94° C. (10 sec. at 98° C., 30 sec. at 65° C., 6 min. at 68° C.) × 20 cycles

To amplify the genes AsEgtA (SEQ ID NO: 1), AsEgtB (SEQ ID NO: 2), and AsEgtC (SEQ ID NO: 3) derived from Aspergillus sojae, a PCR was performed using the chromosomal DNA of Aspergillus sojae NBRC4239 strain obtained above to serve as a template DNA, KOD-Plus-DNA Polymerase (Toyobo) to serve as PCR enzyme, the reagents provided with the enzyme to serve as reaction reagents, and Mastercycler gradient (Eppendolf) to serve as a PCR device. The PCR was performed according to the protocol provided with the enzyme. Primers used to amplify AsEgtA, AsEgtB and AsEgtC and the PCR conditions are shown in Tables 5 to 7 below. Of the sequences shows in the tables, the sequences shown in lower case are added sequences that serve to connect the amplified fragments to the construct plasmid (between Ptef and Talp). The amplified DNA fragments were separated in 1 (w/v) % agarose gel and purified using QIAquick Gel Extraction Kit (Qiagen).

TABLE 5 Amplified target region AsEgtA Forward primer EgtA_1F_Ptef SEQ ID NO: 17 cgcaccaccttcaaaATGTCACCTTTGGCTCTCTC TCC Reverse primer EgtA_2925R_Talp SEQ ID NO: 18 atgtactcctggtacCTAAAGATCCCGCACCAGGC GT PCR condition 2 min. at 94° C. (15 sec. at 94° C., 30 sec. at 62° C., 3 min. at 68° C.) × 25 cycles

TABLE 6 Amplified target region AsEgtB Forward primer EgtB_1F_Ptef SEQ ID NO: 19 cgcaccaccttcaaaATGTCTAATGTTACCCAATC AGCCTTGAG Reverse primer EgtB_1770R_Talp SEQ ID NO: 20 atgtactcctggtacTTAATGTTGACTCCATTCGA TCGTGTTCAG PCR condition 2 min. at 94° C. (15 sec. at 94° C., 30 sec. at 62° C., 2 min. at 68° C.) × 25 cycles

TABLE 7 Amplified target region AsEgtC Forward primer EgtC_1F_Ptef SEQ ID NO: 21 cgcaccaccttcaaaATGACCACTCCCTTCGGAGC T Reverse primer EgtC_1529R_Talp SEQ ID NO: 22 atgtactcctggtacTCAAAGCTTCGCAGAAGAAA CCCCAACC PCR condition 2 min. at 94° C. (15 sec. at 94° C., 30 sec. at 62° C., 2 min. at 68° C.) × 25 cycles

The vector fragments amplified as described above and AsEgtA, AsEgtB or AsEgtC were connected using In-Fusion HD Cloning Kit according to the protocol provided with the kit to obtain a DNA construct for inserting a gene of interest in which AsEgtA, AsEgtB or AsEgtC has been inserted. The so-obtained DNA construct consists of a DNA fragment derived from pUC19, a DNA fragment of Ptef, a DNA fragment of AsEgtA, AsEgtB or AsEgtC, a DNA fragment of Talp, a DNA fragment of pyrG, and a DNA fragment derived from pUC19 that are connected in series in the direction from the 5′ end to the 3′ end. In other words, three different DNA constructs in which the sequence Ptef-AsEgtA, AsEgtB or AsEgtC-Talp-pyrG was connected sequentially into the MCS of pUC19 were obtained.

The resulting DNA constructs were used to transform competent cells ECOS Competent E. coli JM109 (Nippon Gene) in accordance with the manufacturer's instructions to obtain transformed E. coli.

The resulting transformed E. coli was then subjected to shake culture overnight at 37° C. in an LB liquid medium containing 50 μg/ml ampicillin. After the culture period, the culture solution was centrifuged to collect cells. Using FastGene Plasmid Mini Kit (Nippon Genetics), the plasmid DNA was extracted from the collected cells according to the protocols provided with the kit.

The base sequence of each DNA inserted in the extracted plasmid DNA was determined to confirm that a DNA construct in which AsEgtA, AsEgtB or AsEgtC had been inserted was obtained.

Example 2: Preparation of Transformed Aspergillus sojae (1)

(1) pyrG-Disrupted Strain Derived from Aspergillus sojae NBRC4239 Strain.

Each DNA construct was precipitated with ethanol and dissolved in TE to form a DNA solution with a desired concentration. The DNA solution was then used to transform a pyrG-disrupted strain derived from the Aspergillus sojae NBRC4239 strain (i.e., the strain from which a 48 bp upstream region of the pyrG gene, a 896 bp coding region, and a 240 bp downstream region of the pyrG gene have been deleted).

(2) Transformation of pyrG-Disrupted Strain Derived from the Aspergillus sojae NBRC4239 Strain

In a 500 ml Erlenmeyer flask, mycelium of the pyrG-disrupted strain derived from the Aspergillus sojae NBRC4239 strain was inoculated into 100 ml of a polypeptone dextrin liquid medium containing 20 mM uridine and the inoculated medium was subjected to shake culture at 30° C. for about 20 hours. Subsequently, the cells were collected. Protoplasts were prepared from the collected cells. The resulting protoplasts were then transformed with 20 μg of the DNA construct for inserting a gene of interest using the protoplast PEG technique and the protoplasts were incubated at 30° C. for 5 days or more in a Czapek-Dox minimal medium (Difco; pH 6) containing 0.5 (w/v) % agar and 1.2 M sorbitol to obtain transformed Aspergillus sojae as the cells having the ability to form colonies.

Since pyrG, a gene that compensates for the requirement for uridine, had been introduced into the transformed Aspergillus sojae, the transformants were able to grow in the uridine-free medium and were selected as strains having the introduced target gene.

Example 3: Production of Ergothioneine by Transformed Aspergillus sojae (1)

As shown in Table 8 below, the Aspergillus sojae NBRC4239 strain to serve as control; the transformed Aspergillus sojae transformed with one of the genes AsEgtA, AsEgtB and AsEgtC; and the transformed Aspergillus sojae transformed with the gene AsEGtA and the gene AsEgtB or AsEgtC were compared for their ability to produce ergothioneine in the following manner.

TABLE 8 Introduced gene Strain — Control strain AsEgtA, AsEgtB (AsEgtA + AsEgtB) Transformant AsEgtA, AsEgtC (AsEgtA + AsEgtC) Transformant AsEgtA AsEgtA Transformant AsEgtB AsEgtB Transformant AsEgtC AsEgtC Transformant

In a 50 mL Erlenmeyer flask, conidia of the fungal strains shown in Table 8 were inoculated into 10 mL of a DPY medium (1 (w/v) % polypeptune, 2 (w/v) % dextrin, 0.5 (w/v) % yeast extract, 0.5 (w/v) % KH₂PO₄, 0.05 (w/v) % MgSO₄.7H₂O; pH not adjusted) and the inoculated medium was subjected to shake culture at 160 rpm at 30° C. for 3 days. After the culture period, the cells were collected from the culture on Miracloth (Calbiochem). The collected cells were washed with 40 ml distilled water and the cells were pressed between sheets of paper towel to squeeze out the moisture and to thus obtain wet cells. The mass of the wet cells was weighed and twice as much water as the mass of the wet cells was added and the mixture was stirred to obtain a cell suspension. The resulting cell suspension was subjected to a heat treatment at 98° C. for 15 min. Following the heat treatment, the suspension was centrifuged to collect the extracellular fluid as the supernatant, which in turn was filtered through a 0.45 μm filter to obtain an ergothioneine extract.

The resulting ergothioneine extract was analyzed by HPLC using the following conditions:

-   column; COSMOSIL HILIC (4.6×250 mm) -   eluent; acetonitrile: 10 mM ammonium acetate=8:2 -   flow rate; 1 ml/min -   detection wavelength; 220 nm -   temperature; room temperature -   quantification method; calibration curve method using ergothioneine     sample (Enzo Life Sciences; Cat. No. BML-FR111)

From each of the fungal strains shown in Table 8, the specimens that contained the largest amounts of ergothioneine were selected and were compared for the ergothioneine (EGT) production. The results of the comparison are shown in Table 9 and FIG. 1. Meanwhile, the moisture content of some of the wet cells of the AsEgtA transformant (dehydrated with paper towel) was measured by a moisture analyzer (MX-50; A & D) and determined to be 77.7%. Based on this, the moisture content used to estimate the produced amounts of ergothioneine per one gram of dry cell in Table 9 was assumed to be 78%.

Also, the results of HPLC performed on the ergothioneine extracts of the control strain (Control) and the AsEgtA transformant are shown in the chart of FIG. 2. Further, the purity of ergothioneine in the ergothioneine extracts was measured by the following procedure.

Specifically, in a 500 mL Erlenmeyer flask, conidia of the AsEgtA transformant were inoculated into 100 ml of a DPY medium and the inoculated medium was subjected to shake culture at 160 rpm at 30° C. for 3 days. After the culture period, the cells were collected from the culture on Miracloth. The collected cells were washed with 200 ml distilled water and the cells were pressed between sheets of paper towel to squeeze out the moisture and to thus obtain wet cells. The mass of the wet cells was weighed and twice as much water as the mass of the wet cells was added and the mixture was stirred to obtain a cell suspension. The resulting cell suspension was heated in a boiled water bath for 15 min. Following the heating, the suspension was centrifuged to collect the extracellular fluid as the supernatant, which in turn was filtered through a 0.45 μm filter to obtain an ergothioneine extract. The resulting ergothioneine extract was lyophilized to obtain a lyophilized powder. The resulting lyophilized powder was dissolved in distilled water to 25 mg/ml to give a sample for purity measurement. The amount of ergothioneine in the sample for purity measurement was measured and determined to be 2.3 mg/ml. Thus, the purity of EGT in the extract was calculated to be 9.2%.

TABLE 9 EGT EGT Estimated concen- Wet Total total amount with 78% tration cell extract mg/10 ml mg/g moisture (mg/ml weight volume cell wet mg/g Strain extract) (mg) (μl) culture cell dry cell control strain 0.10 611.7 1451 0.15 0.24  1.1 AsEgtA + 4.23 384.4  746 3.16 8.21 37.3 AsEgtB transformant AsEgtA + 3.09 531.5 1120 3.46 6.51 29.6 AsEgtC transformant AsEgtA 2.80 550.7 1152 3.23 5.86 26.6 transformant AsEgtB 0.08 575.8 1380 0.11 0.19  0.9 transformant AsEgtC 0.12 505.7 1127 0.14 0.27  1.2 transformant

As can be seen from Table 9 and FIG. 1, the amount of ergothioneine produced was higher in each of the AsEgtA transformant, the (AsEgtA+AsEgtB) transformant, and the (AsEgtA+AsEgtC) transformant, which were transformed by introducing one or two of the three genes of interest, as compared to any of the non-transformed control strain and the AsEgtB transformant and the AsEgtC transformant. As can be seen, although the AsEgtA transformant shows high production of ergothioneine, the ergothioneine production in each of the AsEgtB transformant and the AsEgtC transformant was comparable to that in the control strain. Also, the amount of ergothioneine produced in each of the (AsEgtA+AsEgtB) transformant and the (AsEgtA+AsEgtC) transformant was higher than the total amount of ergothioneine of the AsEgtA transformant and the AsEgtB transformant combined, or the AsEgtA transformant and the AsEgtC transformant combined. Considering these facts, it turns out that the ergothioneine production capability of each of the (AsEgtA+AsEgtB) transformant and the (AsEgtA+AsEgtC) transformant is increased multiplicatively, rather than additively, with respect to the AsEgtA transformant, the AsEgtB transformant and the AsEgtC transformant.

Also, the (AsEgtA+AsEgtB) transformant was able to produce as much as 37.3 mg/g dry cell of ergothioneine after a 3-day culture period using the same culture medium and culture conditions as those used to culture common filamentous fungi. In contrast, Patent Document 1 mentions that 34 mg/g dry cell of ergothioneine was obtained only when the mycelium of Pleurotus citrinopileatus was cultured in two culture periods for a total of 28 days in a culture medium supplemented with a high concentration of amino acids. These observations suggest that the transformed filamentous fungus of the present invention can produce high amounts of ergothioneine in a simple manner and in a short period of time by using the common culture method for filamentous fungi.

Also, as can be seen from FIG. 2, a comparison with the control strain suggests that the AsEgtA transformant can produce ergothioneine efficiently and at high purity. This is supported by the results of the measurement of the ergothioneine purity in an ergothioneine extract obtained from the AsEgtA transformant. Similarly, it was also found that each of the (AsEgtA+AsEgtB) transformant and the (AsEgtA+AsEgtC) transformant can produce ergothioneine efficiently and at high purity.

Example 4: Confirmation of Transformed Aspergillus sojae

In a test tube, conidia of each of the fungi shown in Table 8 were inoculated in 10 ml of a DPY liquid medium and the inoculated medium was subjected to shake culture at 30° C. for 3 days. Subsequently, the cells were collected. The collected cells were triturated in a bead cell disrupter (MS-100R; Tomy Digital Biology) under a chilled condition to give triturated cell powder, which in turn was suspended in a 0.1 (w/v) % aqueous SDS solution to form a SDS suspension. To the resulting SDS suspension, a one-quarter volume of sample buffer (Lane Marker Reducing Sample Buffer, ImmunoPure (5×); Thermo Fisher Scientific) was added and the mixture was stirred. The mixture was then subjected to a heat treatment at 98° C. for 3 min. Following the heat treatment, the mixture was centrifuged and the supernatant was collected. The supernatant in an amount equivalent to 0.2 mg cell was then applied to an acrylamide gel and electrophoresed to perform an SDS-PAGE. The results are shown in FIG. 3

As can be seen from FIG. 3, the AsEgtA protein appeared as two bands at approximately 90 kDa in SDS-PAGE while its expected molecular weight estimated from the amino acid sequence was 95.7 kDa. Similarly, the AsEgtB protein appeared as a band at little less than 50 kDa while its expected molecular weight estimated from the amino acid sequence was 56.4 kDa. Also, the AsEgtC protein appeared as a band at 50 kDa while its expected molecular weight estimated from the amino acid sequence was 51.2 kDa.

As can be seen from FIG. 3, the control strain expressed little amount of each of the AsEgtA protein, the AsEgtB protein and the AsEgtC protein whereas the (AsEgtA+AsEgtB) transformant and the (AsEgtA+AsEgtC) transformant expressed the AsEgtA protein and either the AsEgtB protein or the AsEgtC protein. Also, the AsEgtA transformant, the AsEgtB transformant and the AsEgtC transformant expressed the AsEgtA protein, the AsEgtB protein and the AsEgtC protein, respectively.

Example 5: Preparation of DNA Constructs with Inserted Genes AoEgtA, AoEgtB and AoEgtC

(1) Search for Proteins of Interest

Using the amino acid sequences of the AsEgtA, AsEgtB and AsEgtC proteins as query sequences, proteins with a high sequence identity were searched from the total protein of Aspergillus oryzae RIB 40 strain. DOGAN (http://www.bio.nite.go.jp/dogan/project/view/AO) was used for the search.

As a result, proteins AO090012000265 (SEQ ID NO: 26), AO090020000619 (SEQ ID NO: 27) and AO090026000291 (SEQ ID NO: 28) were found as proteins having a relatively high sequence identity to the AsEgtA, AsEgtB and AsEgtC proteins, respectively. AO090012000265 is described in Table 2 of Non-Patent Document 5 as a protein similar to Egt1 of S. pombe. AO090012000265, AO090020000619 and AO090026000291 had 97%, 99% and 93% sequence identities to the AsEgtA, AsEgtB and AsEgtC proteins, respectively. Genes encoding each of AO090012000265, AO090020000619 and AO090026000291 were identified from the genomic DNA of Aspergillus oryzae and named as genes AoEgtA (SEQ ID NO: 23), AoEgtB (SEQ ID NO: 24) and AoEgtC (SEQ ID NO: 25), respectively, meaning egtA, egtB and egtC genes derived from Aspergillus oryzae.

(2) Extraction of Chromosomal DNA of Aspergillus oryzae RIB40 Strain

The same procedure was followed as in Example 1-(2), except that the conidia of Aspergillus oryzae RIB40 strain were used.

(3) Preparation of a Construct Plasmid

The vector fragments prepared in Example 1-(3) were used.

(4) Preparation of a Construct for Inserting a Gene of Interest

The same procedure was followed as in Example 1-(4), except that the genes of interest are the AoEgtA, AoEgtB and AoEgtC genes and the chromosomal DNA of Aspergillus oryzae RIB40 strain obtained above was used as a template DNA. Primers used to amplify AoEgtA, AoEgtB and AoEgtC genes and the PCR conditions are shown in Tables 10 to 12 below.

TABLE 10 Amplified target region AoEgtA Forward primer AoEgtA_1F_Ptef SEQ ID NO: 29 cgcaccaccttcaaaATGTCACCGTTGGCTCTTTC TCC Reverse primer AoEgtA_2917R_Talp SEQ ID NO: 30 atgtactcctggtacCTAAAGATCCCGCACTAGGC GTG PCR condition 2 min. at 94° C. (15 sec. at 94° C., 30 sec. at 62° C., 3 min. at 68° C.) × 25 cycles

TABLE 11 Amplified target region AoEgtB Forward primer EgtB_1F_Ptef SEQ ID NO: 19 cgcaccaccttcaaaATGTCTAATGTTACCCAATC AGCCTTGAG Reverse primer EgtB_1770R_Talp SEQ ID NO: 20 atgtactcctggtacTTAATGTTGACTCCATTCGA TCGTGTTCAG PCR condition 2 min. at 94° C. (15 sec. at 94° C., 30 sec. at 62° C., 2 min. at 68° C.) × 25 cycles

TABLE 12 Amplified target region AoEgtC Forward primer AoEgtC_1F_Ptef SEQ ID NO: 31 cgcaccaccttcaaaATGACCACACCCTTCGGAGCC Reverse primer AoEgtC_1528R_Talp SEQ ID NO: 32 atgtactcctggtacTCAAATCTTCGCAGAAGAAAC CCCAACC PCR condition 2 min. at 94° C. (15 sec. at 94° C., 30 sec. at 62° C., 2 min. at 68° C.) × 25 cycles

Similar to Examples 1-(4) above, the base sequence of DNA inserted in the extracted plasmid DNA was determined to confirm that DNA constructs in which genes AoEgtA, AoEgtB and AoEgtC had been inserted were obtained.

Example 6: Preparation of Transformed Aspergillus oryzae

The same procedure was followed as in Example 2-(1) or (2) above, except that a pyrG-disrupted strain derived from Aspergillus oryzae RIB40 strain described in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2013-034416 was transformed with the DNA constructs in which the genes AoEgtA, AoEgtB and AoEgtC had been inserted.

Example 7: Production of Ergothioneine by Transformed Aspergillus oryzae

As shown in Table 13 below, the Aspergillus oryzae RIB40 strain to serve as control, the transformed Aspergillus oryzae transformed with the gene AcEgtA; and the transformed Aspergillus oryzae transformed with the gene AoEgtA and the gene AoEgtB or AoEgtC were compared for their ability to produce ergothioneine in the following manner.

TABLE 13 Introduced gene Strain — Control strain AoEgtA, AoEgtB (AoEgtA + AoEgtB) Transformant AoEgtA, AoEgtC (AoEgtA + AoEgtC) Transformant AoEgtA AoEgtA Transformant

The same procedure was followed as in Example 3 above, except that the mycelia of the fungi shown in Table 13 were inoculated.

From each of the fungal strains shown in Table 13, the specimens that contained the largest amounts of ergothioneine were selected and were compared for the ergothioneine (EGT) production. The results of the comparison are shown in FIG. 5.

As can be seen from FIG. 5, similar to the transformed Aspergillus sojae, the transformed Aspergillus oryzae showed increased ergothioneine production as compared to the non-transformed control strain. The ergothioneine production by the (AoEgtA+AoEgtB) transformant and by the (AoEgtA+AoEgtC) transformant was higher than that of the AoEgtA transformant. These results indicate that the transformants of Aspergillus oryzae can also achieve efficient production of ergothioneine.

Example 8: Preparation of DNA Constructs with Inserted Gene AnEgtA

(1) Search for Proteins of Interest

Using the amino acid sequence of the AsEgtA protein of Aspergillus sojae as a query sequence, proteins with a high sequence identity were searched from the data base Non-redundant protein sequences (nr). Blastp (http://blast.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/Blast.cgi?PROGRAM=blastp&PAGE_TYPE=BlastSearch&LINK_LOC=blasthome) was used for the search.

Of the proteins found to have a high sequence identity to the amino acid sequence of the AsEgtA protein, XP_001397117.2 (SEQ ID NO: 34) was found to be a homologous protein of the Aspergillus niger CBS 513.88 strain. XP_001397117.2 had a 73% sequence identity to the AsEgtA protein. A gene encoding XP_001397117.2 was identified from the genomic DNA of Aspergillus niger and named as a gene AnEgtA (SEQ ID NO: 33), meaning egtA gene derived from Aspergillus niger.

(2) Extraction of Chromosomal DNA of Aspergillus niger IAM2533 Strain

The same procedure was followed as in Example 1-(2), except that the conidia of Aspergillus niger IAM2533 strain were used.

(3) Preparation of a Construct Plasmid

The vector fragments prepared in Example 1-(3) were used.

(4) Preparation of a Construct for Inserting a Gene of Interest

The same procedure was followed as in Example 1-(4) above, except that the gene of interest is the AnEgtA and the chromosomal DNA of Aspergillus niger IAM2533 strain obtained above was used as a template DNA. Primers used to amplify AnEgtA gene and the PCR conditions are shown in Table 14 below.

TABLE 14 Amplified target region AnEgtA Forward AnEgtA_1F_Ptef primer cgcaccaccttcaaaATGTCACCCTTATGTCCGGTCGTCAAG SEQ ID NO: 35 Reverse AnEgtA_2890R_Talp primer atgtactcctggtacTCAGACATCCCGCACCAGCC SEQ ID NO: 36 PCR 2 min. at 94° C. (15 sec. at 94° C., 30 sec. at 62° C., 3 min. condition at 68° C.) × 25 cycles

Similar to Examples 1-(4) above, the base sequence of DNA inserted in the extracted plasmid DNA was determined to confirm that DNA constructs in which the gene AnEgtA had been inserted were obtained.

The sequence of the cloned gene AnEgtA was confirmed and found to match with the sequence of a putative gene (ANI_1_792134) of the A. niger CBS 513.88 strain (the corresponding amino acid sequence is XP_001397117.2). The genome information of this gene is disclosed.

Example 9: Preparation of Transformed Aspergillus sojae (2)

The same procedure was followed as in Example 2-(1) and (2), except that a DNA construct in which the gene AnEgtA had been inserted was used.

Example 10: Production of Ergothioneine by Transformed Aspergillus sojae (2)

The same procedure was followed as in Example 3 above, except that the conidia of the Aspergillus sojae NBRC4239 strain to serve as control and a transformed Aspergillus sojae transformed with the gene AnEgtA were inoculated.

From each of the fungal strains, the specimens that contained the largest amounts of ergothioneine were selected and were compared for the ergothioneine (EGT) production. The results of the comparison are shown in Table 15.

TABLE 15 EGT EGT Estimated concen- Wet Total total amount with 78% tration cell extract mg/10 ml mg/g moisture (mg/ml weight volume cell wet mg/g Strain extract) (mg) (μl) culture cell dry cell control gene 0.12 593.8 1396 0.17  0.28  1.3 AnEgtA 4.84 455.9  992 4.80 10.53 47.9 transformant

As can be seen from Table 15, similar to the transformed Aspergillus sojae transformed with the gene AsEgtA, the transformed Aspergillus sojae transformed with the gene AnEgtA showed increased ergothioneine production as compared to the non-transformed control strain. These results indicate that the transformed Aspergillus sojae transformed with a heterologous gene AnEgtA derived from a different organism of origin can also achieve efficient production of ergothioneine.

Example 11: Preparation of Transformed E. coli

The gene sequences of AsEgtA and AsEgtC genes were optimized based on the amino acid sequences of the AsEgtA and AsEgtC proteins in terms of the codon, secondary structure and GC content. The EcoRV recognition sequence (GATATC) and the SpeI recognition sequence (ACTAGT) were attached to the upstream and the downstream of the respective genes to obtain EcEgtA (SEQ ID NO:37) and EcEgtC (SEQ ID NO:38), respectively.

Meanwhile, pUTE120K′ was constructed as an expression vector. Specifically, pUTE100K′ described in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 06-292584 was digested with NheI and HpaI to remove the lac promoter. Next, the Tac promoter region of pKK223-3 (GE) with the NheI site attached to the 3′ end and the EcoRV site attached to the 5′ end was PCR amplified and purified. The amplified promoter was digested with NheI and inserted into the site where the lac promoter was originally located in pUTE100K′ to construct pUTE120K′.

pUTE120K′ was then digested with restriction enzymes EcoRV and SpeI. Subsequently, EcEgtA or EcEgtC was ligated to construct plasmids pUTE120K′-EcEgtA and pUTE120K′-EcEgtC having EcEgtA or EcEgtC inserted therein.

E. coli transformed with the construct plasmids were cultured and the plasmids pUTE120K′-EcEgtA and pUTE120K′-EcEgtC were purified. Next, pUTE120K′-EcEgtC was digested with restriction enzymes BamHI and SpeI to excise a fragment containing the gene EcEgtC. This fragment was purified. Meanwhile, pUTE120K′-EcEgtA was digested with restriction enzymes BamHI and NheI and the fragment containing the gene EcEgtC obtained above was inserted to construct a plasmid pUTE120K′-EcEgtA-EcEgtC. This plasmid was used to transform E. coli JM109 strain to create a transformed E. coli.

When the transformed E. coli is cultured at 25° C. for 16 hours in a TY medium (1 (w/v) % Bacto Tryptone, 0.5 (w/v) % Bacto yeast Extract, 0.5 (w/v) % NaCl, pH 7.0) containing 0.1 mM isopropyl-β-D-thiogalactopyranoside (IPTG), ergothioneine is detected both in the entire culture broth and in the hot water extract of the collected cells.

Example 12: Production of Ergothioneine by Transformed E. coli (1)

As shown in Table 16 below, the control E. coli in which the expression vector pUTE120K′ had been introduced; the transformed E. coli transformed with the gene EcEgtA or EcEgtC; and the transformed E. coli transformed with the gene EcEgtA and the gene EcEgtC were compared for their ability to produce ergothioneine in the following manner.

TABLE 16 Introduced gene Strain pUTE120K′ Control strain EcEgtA EcEgtA Transformant EcEgtC EcEgtC Transformant EcEgtA, EcEgtC (EcEgtA + EcEgtC) Transformant

In a 19 ml test tube, each of the bacterial strains shown in Table 16 was inoculated into 2.5 ml of a TY medium. The inoculated medium was then seed-cultured at 37° C. for 16 hours while shaken at 180 rpm. In a 19 ml test tube, 0.02 ml of the seed culture broth was inoculated into 2.5 ml of a TY medium containing ampicillin and 0.5 mM IPTG. The inoculated medium was then main-cultured at 25° C. for 24 hours while shaken at 180 rpm. For the main culture, the following three types of TY medium were prepared: an amino acid-free TY medium (TY−); a TY medium supplemented with 0.005 (w/v) % histidine, methionine and cysteine (TY+); and a TY medium supplemented with 0.01 (w/v) % histidine, methionine and cysteine.

After the culture period, the culture was centrifuged (12,000 rpm, 4° C., 10 min) and the cell s were collected as precipitate. To cells obtained from 1 ml of the culture, 0.5 ml water was added to form a cell suspension. The resulting cell suspension was subjected to a heat treatment at 98° C. for 10 min. Following the heat treatment, the suspension was centrifuged to collect the extracellular fluid as the supernatant, which in turn was filtered through a 0.45 μm filter to obtain an ergothioneine extract.

The resulting ergothioneine extract and the culture supernatant obtained from the culture after the main culture (filtered through 0.45 μm filter) were analyzed by LC-MS using the following conditions:

-   LC apparatus; Agilent 1100 series (Agilent) -   mass spectrometer; QSTAR Elite (AB sciex) -   column; COSMOSIL HILIC (4.6×250 mm) -   eluent; acetonitrile+0.1% formic acid: water+0.1% formic acid=75:25     (v/v) -   flow rate; 250 μl/ml -   detection; ESI positive -   Injection; 10 μl -   temperature; room temperature -   quantification method; calibration curve method using ergothioneine     sample (Enzo Life Sciences; Cat. No. BML-FR111)

The bacterial strains shown in Table 16 were compared for the ergothioneine (EGT) production. For the (EcEgtA+EcEgtC) transformant, two arbitrarily selected specimens were used.

The results of the comparison are shown in FIG. 6. As can be seen from FIG. 6, no ergothioneine was detected in the control strain or the EcEgtC transformant whether in the culture supernatant or in the ergothioneine extract. This suggests that the control strain and the EcEgtC transformant each have little or no ability to produce ergothioneine.

In comparison, the EcEgtA transformant and the (EcEgtA+EcEgtC) transformant both exhibited an ability to produce ergothioneine. In addition, the amount of ergothioneine produced by the (EcEgtA+EcEgtC) transformant was higher than that of the EcEgtA transformant and the difference between the two transformants was more significant in the culture supernatants. Also, a comparison of the effect of the addition of histidine, methionine and cysteine into the culture medium indicates that the addition of histidine, methionine and cysteine into the culture medium causes an increase in the amount of ergothioneine in each of the EcEgtA transformant and the (EcEgtA+EcEgtC) transformant.

These results indicate that the (EcEgtA+EcEgtC) transformant has an enhanced ergothioneine production capability that is increased multiplicatively, rather than additively, from that of the EcEgtA transformant since the EcEgtA transformant showed high ergothioneine production whereas the EcEgtC transformant showed no production of ergothioneine.

Example 13: Production of Ergothioneine by Transformed E. coli (2)

In a 19 ml test tube, each of the bacterial strains shown in Table 16 was inoculated into 2.5 ml of a TY medium (1 (w/v) % Bacto Tryptone, 0.5 (w/v) % Bacto Yeast Extract, 1 (w/v) % NaCl, pH 7.0) containing 50 μg/ml ampicillin. The inoculated medium was then seed-cultured at 37° C. overnight while shaken at 180 rpm. Subsequently, in a 500 ml fluted Erlenmeyer flask, 0.8 ml of the resulting seed culture broth was inoculated into 100 ml of a TY medium containing 0.2 mM IPTG+50 μg/ml ampicillin. The inoculated medium was then main-cultured at 25° C. for 24 hours while shaken at 150 rpm.

After the culture period, the culture was centrifuged (12,000 rpm, 4° C., 10 min) and the cells were collected as precipitate. To cells obtained from 1 ml of the culture, 0.5 ml distilled water was added and the mixture was stirred to form a cell suspension. The resulting cell suspension was subjected to a heat treatment at 98° C. for 10 min. Following the heat treatment, the suspension was centrifuged to collect the extracellular fluid as the supernatant, which in turn was filtered through a 0.45 μm filter to obtain an ergothioneine extract.

The resulting ergothioneine extract and the culture supernatant obtained from the culture after the main culture (filtered through 0.45 μm filter) were analyzed by LC-MS using the conditions described in Example 12 above. Also, the cells obtained from 40 mL of the culture broth were dried in an incubator at 60° C. to measure the dry cell weight. The ergothioneine (EGT) production was compared and the results are shown in Table 17.

TABLE 17 Ergothioneine extract Culture supernatant Dry cell weight EGT EGT EGT Total EGT EGT Total Dry cell EGT Conc. Conc. amount Conc. amount weight amount (μg/ml (μg/ml (mg/100 ml (μg/ml (mg/100 ml (g/100 ml (mg/g strain extract) culture) culture) culture) culture) culture) dry cell) EcEgtA 14.1 7.05 0.71 12.4 1.24 0.14 5.04 Transformant EcEgtC N.D. N.D. N.D. N.D. N.D. 0.15 N.D. Transformant (EcEgtA + 16.4 8.21 0.82 39.4 3.94 0.14 5.86 EcEgtC) Transformant Control N.D. N.D. N.D. N.D. N.D. 0.15 N.D. strain

As can be seen from Table 17, similar to Example 12, the control strain and the EcEgtC transformant exhibited little or no ability to produce ergothioneine. Also, the amount of ergothioneine produced by the (EcEgtA+EcEgtC) transformant was higher than that of the EcEgtA transformant and the difference between the two transformants was more significant in the culture supernatants. Further, the (EcEgtA+EcEgtC) transformant has an enhanced ergothioneine production capability that is increased multiplicatively, rather than additively, from that of the EcEgtA transformant.

Example 14: Production of Ergothioneine by Transformed E. coli (3)

In a 19 ml test tube, the (EcEgtA+EcEgtC) transformed E. coli shown in Table 16 was inoculated into 2.5 ml of a TY medium containing 1 μg/ml ampicillin. The inoculated medium was then seed-cultured at 30° C. for 16 hours while shaken at 140 rpm. Subsequently, in a 3 l jar fermenter (B. E. Marubishi), all of the resulting seed culture broth was inoculated into 2000 ml of a medium for high density culture containing 0.1 mM IPTG, 0.1 (w/v) % histidine, 0.1 (w/v) % methionine and 0.6 (w/v) % sodium thiosulfate. The inoculated medium was then main-cultured while controlled to 25° C., 0.01 MPa, 750 rpm.

After the culture period, the culture was centrifuged (12,000 rpm, 4° C., 5 min) and the cells were collected as precipitate. To cells obtained from 1 ml of the culture, 1 ml distilled water was added and the mixture was stirred to form a cell suspension. The resulting cell suspension was subjected to a heat treatment at 100° C. for 15 min. Following the heat treatment, the suspension was centrifuged to collect the extracellular fluid as the supernatant, which in turn was filtered through a 0.45 μm filter to obtain an ergothioneine extract.

The resulting ergothioneine extract and the culture supernatant obtained from the culture after the main culture (filtered through 0.45 μm filter) were analyzed by HPLC using the conditions described in Example 3 above. The cell concentration was analyzed by absorbance (OD 600 nm).

FIG. 7 shows the absorbance (OD600) during the culture period, along with the results of measurement of the amounts of ergothioneine in the ergothioneine extract and in the culture supernatant. As shown in FIG. 7, the amount of ergothioneine in the ergothioneine extract (i.e., intracellular) was 0.64 mg/ml at its highest and the amount of ergothioneine in the culture supernatant (i.e., extracellular) was 0.05 mg/ml at its highest. Also, the cell concentration (OD600) was 47.1 at its highest. These results indicate that the high density culture of the (EcEgtA+EcEgtC) transformed E. coli enables production of ergothioneine in higher amounts per culture.

The results of Examples 11 to 14 above indicate that by transforming a host organism with the gene egtA or the genes egtA and egtC that have been optimized for expression in the host organism in terms of their codons, secondary structures and GC contents based on the amino acid sequences of the AsEgtA protein and AsEgtC protein derived from Aspergillus sojae, it is possible to achieve production of ergothioneine in the host organism regardless of their inherent ergothioneine production ability.

The results of Examples 11 to 14 also indicate that culturing the ergothioneine-producing transformants in large amounts or at high density can achieve production of ergothioneine in large quantity. These results suggest that the transformed filamentous fungus can also produce ergothioneine on an industrial scale when cultured in large amounts or at high density.

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY

The transformed filamentous fungus of the present invention and the production method thereof can be used to produce ergothioneine at high purity. Accordingly, since ergothioneine is a sulfur-containing amino acid with high anti-oxidative property, the present invention can be used in the industrial-scale production of raw materials used for the production of antioxidative products such as cosmetic products and supplements with imparted antioxidative functions.

[Sequence Listing] 

The invention claimed is:
 1. A transformed filamentous fungus comprising a gene encoding an enzyme (1) or genes encoding enzymes (1) and (2) inserted therein and can overexpress the inserted gene or genes, wherein the gene encoding the enzyme (1) is a gene having the base sequence with at least 90% to upto 99% sequence identity to the base sequence set forth in SEQ ID NO: 1, 23 or 33, or the enzyme (1) is an enzyme having the amino acid sequence with at least 90% to upto 99% sequence identity to the amino acid sequence set forth in SEQ ID NO: 4, 26 or 34, and wherein the gene encoding the enzyme (2) is a gene having the base sequence with at least 90% to upto 99% sequence identity identity to the base sequence set forth in SEQ ID NO: 2, 3, 24 or 25, or the enzyme (2) is the enzyme having the amino acid sequence with at least 90% (except 100%) identity to the amino acid sequence set forth in SEQ ID NO: 5, 6, 27 or 28, wherein the enzyme (1) catalyzes the reaction in which hercynyl cysteine sulfoxide represented by the following formula (I)

is produced from histidine and cysteine in the presence of S-adenosylmethionine, iron (II), and oxygen, and wherein the enzyme (2) catalyzes the reaction in which ergothioneine is produced from hercynyl cysteine sulfoxide using pyridoxal 5′-phosphate as a coenzyme, wherein the filamentous fungus is a microorganism of the genus Aspergillus.
 2. The transformed filamentous fungus of claim 1, wherein the filamentous fungus is a fungus of the genus Aspergillus selected from the group consisting of Aspergillus sojae, Aspergillus oryzae, Aspergillus niger, Aspergillus tamarii, Aspergillus awamori, Aspergillus usamii, Aspergillus kawachii, and Aspergillus saitoi.
 3. The transformed filamentous fungus of claim 1, wherein the transformed filamentous fungus is a transformed filamentous fungus in which the expression of the gene encoding the enzyme (1) or the genes encoding the enzymes (1) and (2) is enhanced such that the amount of ergothioneine is increased compared to a host filamentous fungus.
 4. The transformed filamentous fungus of claim 1, wherein the transformed filamentous fungus is a transformed filamentous fungus in which the expression of the genes encoding the enzymes (1) and (2) is enhanced such that the amount of ergothioneine is increased compared to transformed filamentous fungi in which the expression of the gene encoding the enzyme (1) is enhanced.
 5. The transformed filamentous fungus of claim 1, wherein the transformed filamentous fungus is a transformed filamentous fungus in which the expression of the gene encoding the enzyme (1) or the genes encoding the enzymes (1) and (2) is enhanced such that when the transformed filamentous fungi is cultured at 30° C. for 3 days in a culture medium suitable for the growth of the host filamentous fungus, the amount of ergothioneine is 10.0 mg or more per 1 g of dry cell mass.
 6. A method for producing ergothioneine, comprising the step of applying histidine and cysteine to the transformed filamentous fungus according to claim 1 to obtain ergothioneine.
 7. A method for producing a high-purity-ergothioneine-containing composition, comprising the step of obtaining an ergothioneine-containing composition having purity of 5% or higher from a culture obtained by culturing a transformed filamentous fungus according to claim 1 with the use of a culture medium containing histidine and cysteine.
 8. A recombinant vector comprising at least one gene selected from the group consisting of a gene encoding an enzyme (1) described in the claim 1 and a gene encoding an enzyme (2) described in the claim 1 and a heterologous gene, (1) an enzyme that catalyzes the reaction in which hercynyl cysteine sulfoxide represented by the following formula (I)

is produced from histidine and cysteine in the presence of S-adenosylmethionine, iron (II), and oxygen; and (2) an enzyme that catalyzes the reaction in which ergothioneine is produced from hercynyl cysteine sulfoxide using pyridoxal 5′-phosphate as a coenzyme.
 9. The recombinant vector of claim 8, wherein the gene encoding the enzyme (1) and the gene encoding the enzyme (2) are each a gene either originating from a host organism to insert the recombinant vector therein or optimized to be expressed in the host organism.
 10. The transformed filamentous fungus of claim 1, wherein the gene encoding the enzyme (1) and/or the enzyme (2) is overexpressed under the control of a high expression promoter selected from the group consisting of a promoter region of translation elongation factor TEF1 gene (tef1), a promoter region of α-amylase gene (amy), and a promoter region of alkaline protease gene (alp). 